Wings of Alchemy
by JessTalksAlot
Summary: AU FANG END, AU FMA; When Fang dies at the hands of Dr. Gunter-Hagen, the Flock is left devastated. Dylan learns of a way to possibly bring him back - things go completely wrong. Max finds herself in a completely different world and meets a certain short alchemist. The Flock has entered one of their most unique adventures, but will they be able to face the unknown dangers?
1. Intro Chapter:  Death

**Wings of Alchemy has been revised a lot. Starting anew. Same basic story, different beginnings.  
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-Max's POV-

From his note to me to the hospital bed in a bedroom, things went by nearly all too fast. _Fang will be the first to die._ Was all I could hear as I watched Fang dying in that bed, the machine starting to flat line. I really hated Dr. Gunther-Whatsit, he was killing someone who I realized I needed more than anything in the world.. "I love you Fang!" I screamed into his ear.. "Did you hear that? Why didn't I tell you before? You can't die before I tell you that!" Clinging to his t-shirt, sobbing, I continued screaming at him. I felt like the weakest person in the world. How could I let this happen?

"Max..." A calloused hand placed itself on top of mine, "I love you too..."

His hand went limp. Fang - after everything we've been through - was gone.


	2. Ch 1: Human Transmutation

-Max's POV- (assume it's this unless said otherwise)

It had been three days since that happened. I wasn't recovering at all. My mom had let us come stay with her again, and I had locked myself up in Ella's room, only letting Ella in to get things like clothes. I was so depressed, no one needed to see the state I was in. That's no way anyone needs to see their leader.

Sadly, everyone could hear me when I broke out into those dreaded tears, whimpering for Fang. I feel so pathetic sometimes.

"Max..." I heard Angel say at the door. "Max are you okay?" She asked. I hadn't spoken to her since he had died. I didn't blame her for his death, but I really hadn't spoken to anyone else either. I simply kept quiet. "Max.. Dylan wants to talk to you."

I cracked the door open. "About what?"

"He said it was something about.. about Fang."

I stared at the innocent little girl who had once been my baby doll, my favorite, now it felt as though we weren't going to be close ever again. "Okay.." I mumbled. "but send him in here."

When he entered my little cave of tears he sat down beside me on Ella's bed, "I think I found a way to bring Fang back." He said. I was taken aback for a second. Why would he want to bring Fang back? Didn't they hate each other? I know for a fact Fang hated him.

"Are you insane?"

He shrugged, "Maybe I am, Max." He paused a moment. I refused to look at him. He was mocking me, I knew he was. Wasn't he supposed to be my perfect half or something? Why was he acting like a jerk? "I really think it'll work though..."

"Why." I demanded. It wasn't any question, it was an order to tell me why.

He fidgeted with his hands a bit. "I don't want you to cry anymore..." He said in almost a whisper. I cooled down a bit and relaxed.

"Okay then. Explain your crazy plan..."

"Human Transmutation."

I blinked a few times, "Human What-now?"

"I know it sounds a bit strange, but let me explain it a bit. First I'll begin with an explanation of alchemy." he went on to tell me about transmutation circles, equivalent exchange, a bunch of scientific sounding things, suddenly a voice whispered to me in the back of my head.

_Don't listen to him, Max' _The Voice. If it were real, I'd punch it in the face.

_Long time no _hear_, _I snapped at it, _Where were you when Fang was dying?_

"Max, are you listening to me?" Dylan asked.

_It'll only cause you more pain._

Enraged at how little he helped at Fang's death bed I shouted - if that's possible - at it in my mind. _I'll listen to you when Fang's alive and you're actually helping me!_

"Let's do it. _Now_." I said out of a bit of anger and hoe. If this worked, I'd have Fang back, we'd be able to be together again, we'd be able to love each other again.

Dylan showed me a few images on the laptop Fang left behind of what we needed to draw and I told him to explain it to the flock while I started on it. I heard a teary whoop coming from Nudge, and a few other mumbles from everyone else - not upset, confused or grumbly mumbles or anything like that, more like mumbles of shock or something.

"Done!" I called to everyone in the other room. _See that Voice? I'm going to get Fang back, I don't care if you help or not_. I said smugly to the Voice with no reply. "Is everyone ready?" I asked.

With shuffling feet and a rush to the room, the rest of the Flock came inside. I glanced at Dylan who nodded. The six of us slapped our hands together and slapped them down on the chalk drawing. Suddenly, light started to shine from the markings on the ground. They were all sorts of shades of gold a blue. Sort of reminded me of the Fireworks Gazzy made for all of our birthdays.

And then it all fell apart.

I wanted to cry. They were falling apart. My Flock, my babies, they were falling apart right in front of me - and I was too.

Blood soaked through the back of Angel's shirt, who knows what caused it, Nudge clutched her stomach, coughing up blood, making a messy splatter on the floor. Iggy clutched his face as blood started oozing out from between his fingers. Gazzy was nowhere in sight! Even me. Even my own leg was started to vanish.

Then all the panic stopped.

I felt like I had woken up in some insane asylum. Everything was white around me. "Why hello there!"

I spun around to see myself. Well, almost myself, if I were sheet white, naked, eyeless, noseless, and bald. Besides that, yeah it was myself. I looked up behind it and a door stood. "A door?"

Suddenly the voice in front of me was behind me, "This is the Gate of Truth, foolish human." I turned to face it.

"And you are?"

Whatever it was threw its hands up into the air with a cheeky grin. "I'm so glad you asked!" It exclaimed. "I am one. I am all. I am the world, the universe. I am god. I am even," it pointed at me, "You." Then it frowned, "Welcome to my domain fool."

"Who the hell are you calling a f-" I was cut off when something grabbed my arm and started pulling back. "Get off of me!" I screamed, thrashing around. It continued pulling me until I was inside that big door.

At that moment, it was as if I went into another brain bomb. Too much information was going inside my head. I felt like my head was going to explode!

Then I saw him. Reaching out to me. With a smile on his face. Then, just when I was about to reach him.. I was back in the white room.

After a short pause the thing appeared again, "How was it?"

"You gotta let me back in!" I said, turning towards the door.

"No can do; that's all you get for this toll."

"What toll?" I snapped at it. Suddenly, my right leg vanished.

"This should do nicely."

Then I was back in that room. It was foggy and it smelled. I looked around then I saw it. "What the hell?"

In front of me lay a rotting creature, struggling to breathe, reaching out to me, murmuring my name. "No.. this isn't what we wanted..."

"Max..." it wheezed.

I had completely lost it and screamed, "Don't touch me! Get away!"

Then it was all black.


	3. Ch 2:  the Fullmetal Alchemist

I snapped awake to see a white ceiling above me. I had no clue where I was, only I was in some sort of bed and something felt missing from my right leg. Sitting up I glanced around the room. It seemed pretty plain.

"YEE!" I heard someone scream from downstairs. I didn't recognize the voice, but I understood it to be male. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!" The voice screeched.

"YOU SEEM TO BE DOING THAT FINE ON YOUR OWN!" A female voice.

"Brother, please..." A little boy?

"SHOW THE LOVELY LADY SOME RESPECT!" A man.

"PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON!" The first male voice again. I sighed. I was in a whacko joint filled with crazy people trying to kill each other while ripping their own shirts off. Great.

Just then, a girl with long blond hair in a ponytail, wearing a tube-top baring her stomach and cargo pants, walked in, sighing. "Oh! You're awake!" She said when she noticed me sitting up. "I bet you're wondering why you're here?" I didn't reply. I had no clue who the hell she was, I could be in the School for all I know. "the silent treatment, huh?" She frowned. "At least let me see your leg."

I blinked a bit, suddenly remembering the scene from before I blacked out and I forced myself to keep what ever was left in my stomach down. "Sorry about your pants," she said as she pulled the covers down. My right pant leg had been cut above where my leg had vanished. "I had to cut them to get to what was left of your leg."

I stared, "Who are you?" my first words since waking up, where ever I was.

"Winry Rockbell. You're in Risembool!"

"Risem-what?"

"Risembool. In Amestris?"

I gave her a baffled look, "No clue."

She nodded in some understanding, "You're not from around here?"

I scratched the back of my head, "Nope."

Winry.. I think that's what she said her name was, smiled kindly, "Okay then, welcome! You must be hungry from being asleep for so long. Let me bring you down stairs so I can get you something to eat."

I shook my head, "I didn't say I trust you enough to do that!" Again, I didn't know who the hell she was. I didn't know how strong she was either. What if she dropped me or something?

"You sure? I could bring you a cookie or something instead..."

"W-w-wait!" I shouted before she left. "What. Kind. Of. Cookie."

"Chocolate chip?"

I smiled, "Please take me down there!" What? I like cookies. So what if it was poisoned, it's worth death to eat a delicious chocolate chip cookie!

And that's when I met Edward.

Winry sat me down on the couch beside a short boy with blond hair and golden eyes to match. It was unusually long for a boy's, but so was Fang's and I was fine with that. He had it tied behind his head in a braid and let his bangs frame his face loosely, a stray strand of hair stood up where his bangs parted. He was in a tank top and shorts, so I could see two odd attachments to his body. His right shoulder had some sort of mechanical port or something with a hole going into his shoulder. His left leg was robotic or something.

This boy was strange.

"So..." He began speaking, "are you a friend of Winry's?"

I shook my head, "I'm just here for the cookies."

He gave me a peculiar look, "Cookies?" I nodded, smiling cheerily. "So uh... what happened to your leg?" something in his expression made me feel like he regretted asking that soon as it came out of his mouth.

I smiled and sat back. "Believe it or not, I was trying to bring my boyfriend back from the dead. What happened to your limbs?" This obviously was some sort of dream. I mean, I wasn't in any real pain and there's no way I'd meet anyone with the appearance that Ed had... well, maybe if they're from the School, but he was so openly showing these false limbs off to the people in this house... unless they're like Ella and my mother... never mind. It was already said and done, no way to take it back.

He frowned, his bangs obscuring my view of his eyes. "Nothing... really."

Since that conversation went no where I looked around the room a bit. "What's that weird robot thing over there?"

Ed began to sweat, "Um... my brother... likes to collect suits of armor! It's a hobby of his... and he's always wearing one too, he wears that one the most often, but it's damaged!"

Ed and whoever his brother is is giving me a weird impression.

I was getting a bit curious about the robotic leg dealio and the weird port, "What's with your left leg...? And you shoulder? Is that some weird prosthetic?"

"You sound like you don't know what automail is." He gave me a strange expression that told me he thought I was nuts. Maybe I was.

"I don't."

"What about automail?" Winry had entered with a tray of delicious smelling cookies. I could feel myself drooling. That doesn't help prove I'm sane, does it?

"Max was asking about it." Ed said.

Winry nodded, "Here's the cookies, Max!"

I smiled warmly. "Wow, those look really good!" I exclaimed. It's been so long since I've had good cookies.

"Yeah, can I have one?" Ed asked warmly.

All I'll say, those cookies tasted good.

We sat and spoke for a while and told each other about our adventures. Of course, I left out the part about the School and the fact me and my 'family' were all mutant freaks from a different world. It felt as though Ed and Winry left other things out too. "Sounds like you guys have a lot of fun!" Winry said cheerily.

I smiled sadly. "I don't know where any of them are right now, though..." I was starting to get homesick. Man, I've grown so weak. I feel terrible. Opening all my life to complete strangers (minus School and mutant stuff) and eating cookies with them. Well, at least I didn't decide to flaunt my wings around. "Winry, will you make me some automail?" I asked.

She seemed surprised. "You sure?"

"I can't find them with just one leg..."

"In that case," Ed began speaking, "I'll help you until you get that leg finished."

I stared at him, dumbfounded, "Help me?"

He grinned cheekily at me. "Give me something that makes them stand out and I should find them in no time!" I stared at him a moment. _Should I tell him about our wings? Wait... I could tell him what they all lost... but I don't know what they all lost...maybe I'm the only one that lost something. Then what about appearances? I'm sure that's easy to confuse with other people..._

I sighed. "We all have wings." There was a moment of silence.

"Wings?" Ed said after a few minutes. "Are you all Chimera?"

I looked up and at him. "What the hell is a Chimera?" Ed gave me a peculiar look before speaking again.

"A chimera is the result of two or more animals or humans are combined... but if you're a Chimera, shouldn't you be more animal like?"

I bit my lip a moment. "I guess I could be one then. I'm not going to go into detail of how it happened because it'd resurface some bad memories.. but if you'd like to see some proof I could show you..."

Then this short little midget with weird hair and eyes smiled. It wasn't a warm smile or a cheery one. It was sympathetic. Why was he looking at me like that? People confuse me sometimes.

"No it's fine." He surprised me with saying that. "So, can you get my automail done within a week, Winry?"

Winry smiled warmly, "Don't underestimate me, Edward! I'll do it in three days tops!" She then looked at me, "You, on the other hand, it may take a bit. I'll need to get measurements of your left leg for length and I'll need to work on more than just the actual limb. It'll take a while for you to recover from it. But seeing as you're so determined, you may take just as long as Ed did."

I glanced at him, asking him how long. "A year."

I grinned, "6 months."

They both stared at me. "Me and my family... we recover and heal faster than most normal humans. We're also stronger, faster, and have a bunch of weird powers. Angel can read and send thoughts. So she's your best bet at finding them. I'm not going to explain everything here, they can if you need to know. Now, Winry, could you help me back to the room upstairs?"

"Of course."

It looked like things were looking brighter for me now. Only a few months, and the Flock would be reunited again.

Or so I thought.


	4. Ch 3:  Journey to Central Command

**Okay, this chapter is shorter than usual, but I thought it was a good place to end it and start the next one.  
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_Okay. I don't want automail anymore. I change my mind_, is what shot through my mind while Winry was connecting the port for the automail, or that's what she called it. It took everything I had not to spring up and attack her. The room this had occurred in smelled like the school. Antiseptic medicine with a touch of blood.

I felt a cold rag being pressed to my forehead then Winry started talking. "This is the worst part of it all." Her voice was killing my head. Why was it so loud all of a sudden? "Everything else should be smooth sailing."

Sighing, I let myself relax the best I could. Winry walked away from my bed for a moment to look over her tools and what she had already made of my leg. I noticed her pick something up, a troubled look on her face. I looked at her hand and saw a screw with a tag tied to it reading "for Ed's arm". "Whoops..." she mumbled. To reassure herself that he'd be fine she chuckled and scratched the back of her head, "Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine!"

-Meanwhile-

The two people that had just appeared and killed the Slicer Brothers were now approaching the short alchemist. Ed slapped his hands together to create his alchemic circle, "Don't come any closer or I'll-!" his automail arm went limp at his side.

"Technical difficulties?" The woman of the pair said in amusement.

The palm tree cheered, "Lucky me!" and went to knock Ed out to get him out of the collapsing building and out to his younger brother, Maria Ross, Denny Brosh, and a girl with chocolate skin and black hair.

-Meanwhile again-

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine! I better get to work on your automail." Winry said. I closed my eyes and tried relaxing myself a bit more. This was gonna be a long few months.

-A few days later-

I'm an idiot. A big idiot. I spent as much time as I could moving around on the automail soon as Winry had finished it and now I wanted to throw up, like I had done so many times. I'm a really big idiot.

A phone rang from another room; I was tempted to go in and smash it to bits. Before I could do so Winry answered it. "Hello?" A pause. "Ed, what are you doing, you never call." Another pause. "I see...I'll see you when I get there." She put the phone down on the reciever and walked into the room, "Max, I need to go to Central Command for a bit, do you think you'll be okay alone?"

"Take me with you." I demanded without thinking.

"But you can barely walk-"

"Take me with you." I repeated. "I'm never going to meet up with my Flock if I don't go and try to find them." I reasoned.

She sighed in aggravation. "Fine...I'll go get the crutches."

The train ride was pretty boring. The seats were very uncomfortable as well and I kept switching positions and the way I was sitting, ending up just letting half my body hang off on the floor. We arrived within a few hours and I was thankful to get out of the hot, smelly, claustrophobia inducing, uncomfortable train into an even larger claustrophobia inducing building full of people moving back and forth.

"Ed said I'll be able to recognize the escort right away..." Winry said, scanning the area. I didn't see anyone familiar until I saw a bald head with only a curl and what seemed to be pink sparkles floating around his head.

I lifted a finger and pointed, "That him?" I remembered him being with Ed and Al when they came.

"Major Armstrong!"

The two of us walked over, I on a pair of crutches. Despite the fact I'm taller than a lot of people, this man was probably much taller than even Iggy**(1)**. "Ah, greetings ladies. Edward requested me to escort the two of you to his hospital, but I think you know that already."

I blinked. "Hospital? Ed's in the hospital?"

Winry laughed awkwardly, "Yeah, guess I forgot to tell you.. Ed's in the hospital."

I gave her a look, hopefully showing how annoyed I was. Suddenly, I was lifted off the ground, under the large man's arm. "You seem to be having trouble walking! I'll carry you!"

"No, really, that's fine. You don't have to." I protested. I felt like I was being crushed by the behemoth.

"I insist!" He yelled. Why was he talking so loudly? "The Armstrong family had done this for generations!" I gave up in my protest and just hung there while we headed for the hospital.

He sat me down once we got to the floor Ed was on and we walked towards one of the rooms. I was already feeling sick from the antiseptic smells all over. We stepped into the room. Ed was sitting in a hospital bed with his automail in a sling and his hair tied in a ponytail rather than his usual braid. He was wearing a baby blue outfit, which I assumed was some sort of hospital gown. Beside his bed a head of black hair sat in a white sweatshirt and jeans from what I could tell from behind.

When he noticed us he smiled, "Winry, you finally made it!"

The head of black hair turned to look and smiled once she saw me. "Max!"

I couldn't help but smile myself, "Hey Nudge."

**(1) I see Iggy as the tallest flock member.**


	5. Ch 4:  Maes Hughes

Nudge and I had left Ed's room and went to the waiting room so we could catch up a bit. I had taken off the automail so the pain shooting through my body as it tried rejecting it would die down a bit, which she sort of freaked out over then she realized Ed had a leg similar and she cooled down really quickly after geeking out about it for a short time. She was talking my ear off, holding my hand, as I was probably crushing it back. "How did you end up with Ed?" I asked.

"Oh, well, I was in the hospital-"

I cut her off, "Why were you in the hospital?" I asked kind of loudly.

She chewed her lip a bit, "When I woke up here I didn't feel right on the inside, so Iggy-"

"Iggy was with you?" My voice was raising.

"Yes, he was, but we sorta got separated when we got to the hospital since his eyes were kind of bleeding-"

"What?" The majority of the floor we were on could likely hear me.

"He lost his eyes, I lost something inside of me and it seems you lost your leg from whatever it was that we did." She said quickly. So, I guessed that meant we all must've lost something. I had to calm myself a little bit, the younger two and Dylan were still yet to be found and there was no way I would know what happened until then and I was having a mini panic attack.

"Anyway," Nudge interrupted my thoughts, "I went to the hospital with Iggy and they dragged him off because his face was like, gushing blood, it was really gross, you don't even want to know how gross, anyway, it smelled the school and I kind of freaked out more than I thought I would and Denny happened to be visiting a friend of his who had just had a baby, that baby was adorable by the way, really cute, I wish I could've held it before Denny dragged me off 'cause I kinda flipped out and threw a random object at a nurse.

"ANYWAY! He dragged me off and Miss Maria sorta scolded him for scaring me - I was now thinking he was working for the school or something and was really shaking, like, a lot, like, earthquake shaky - she told me I'd be alright and he wouldn't hurt me, she was really nice about it, and I sorta just hung around for them, met Ed and Al and Mr. Armstrong and then they ran off to the lab, I kinda followed them, when this robot thing like Al came out of nowhere and attacked him and-"

I covered her mouth, "I get it, and now Ed's in the hospital 'cause his arm stopped working 'cause Winry forgot a screw in it. Anything else?"

She looked around as if to see if anyone was listening, "Al is a robot..."

I blinked a few times, "What?"

"He's a robot!"

I facepalmed. Ed had explained to me a bit his and Al's situation, how his soul was trapped in the armor by a blood seal on the inside, that was the only way he was even still alive at this point. I'm pretty sure he wasn't a robot. "Al spirit is attached to the armor that you're calling a robot."

"Huh?"

"That's why Ed's arm is missing too."

She nodded, as if understanding immediately.

After a short pause I reattached the automail, yelping as the nerves connected - note to self: never take this off again - I stood a few moments to regain my composure, really embarrassed Nudge was seeing me like this, and stood up on my crutches, "Think Iggy might still be here?" I asked Nudge, for once she didn't reply with a paragraph and just shrugged.

"I think he said he was leaving soon as they took care of him."

I sighed in aggravation. He wasn't making it any easier for me to rally the flock up again. I decided then to head up to Ed's room and started my way to the stairs, hoping the flight up would be less clumsy than the flight down. Get it? Flight? I'm a bird-kid? Ah, screw you. Anyway, we manged our way up the stairs and towards Ed's room to discover Ed wasn't in there.

Winry was sitting on the floor holding a wrench, wiping her eyes with a few sniffles, Nudge instantly went to check on her. "You okay?" She asked sweetly.

She looked up and smiled a bit, "Yeah I'm fine... Ed and Al were fighting and I had to be the traffic control." She sniffed and wiped her eyes again, "Max, want to head to the inn to get a room?"

Suddenly, a man I hadn't noticed yet intervened. "Nonsense, you can come stay with me and my wife Gracia!"

He was tall with black, spiked hair and glasses. He had a square chin with whiskers. He was wearing the same outfit I had seen Major Armstrong, Denny, and Maria wearing, so I assumed he was part of the military. He suddenly whipped out a bunch of pictures of a woman and a little girl, "You'll get to see my sweet daughter Elicia too! Isn't she cute! Look at her!"

I laughed awkwardly and tried to protest, "No, no, it's fine."

"I insist!" I wanted to facepalm. Before I realized it I was being dragged out by the arm along with Winry. Nudge, laughing at our demise no doubt, followed closely behind us.

-0-0-0-

I really didn't expect such a warm gathering upon the arrival at, who's named I learned was, Maes Hughes's home. I didn't expect it to be his daughter's birthday either, but it was unexpected either way.

First of all, Elicia was in fact very cute. She reminded me of Angel when she was cute and innocent and my baby, not a crazy seven year old who wanted to rule the world. Gracia was very likable, reminded me somewhat of my mom back home. The food she had made for the party was delicious as well. Maes was very warm for a military officer, well, at least any military officer I know of besides maybe Major Armstrong.

I loved seeing Nudge enjoying her time there, talking to other Hughes family members, goofing off with the two to three year olds running around. What was really amusing was Maes threatening a group of boys fighting over Elicia with a gun. I'm sure he wasn't going to really hurt them, they were no older than three.

I usually won't trust people so easily - I had been doing that a lot in this wacky world - but something about him and his family made me feel at home. Maybe if we never found out a way back to our world to save the world like Jeb has said I supposedly must do, we could stay and live with the Hughes family. I was really warming up to this family and that was never good. Something bad always happens after that. Either that or I fly away with Fang. But he's dead, so guess that's not happening.

I couldn't fall asleep that night. Nudge and I tapped hands, it felt totally off without the others there, and then she passed out right away, I just sat up staring at the ceiling. My mind started wondering. What if I had done things differently in the past? Would Fang have died? Would I be laying in this bed in the home of someone I just met? Would Ari have become so twisted at so young an age, only to die just as soon as he gained some sense of reality?

I closed my eyes and tried to push it away from my mind, but the thought that I was a bad leader and had caused the many tragedies and trials my family had to face. When nothing worked I gave up and decided to take a quick flight around the area and plan ways to escape in case of attacks.

Creeping over to the window, I threw it open and planted my feet on the sill. I dropped my jacket I had borrowed from Winry and spread my wings out. Steadying myself, I leaped out of the window and soared through the night sky.

Flying seems to always have a calming effect on me. I can just forget everything and let the wind flow through my hair. Very few people were out right now if any, and if anyone looked up, I'd just look like a large bird due to how high I was, so no worries there. The automail was a bit heavy and that leg sagged down a little from the weight, but I managed to balance everything out alright after a few seconds. I scoped the sky really quick to see if flock members that were still missing had the same idea to go flying late at night. No one in sight.

After a few minutes I turned around and started back, hoping no one noticed I had gone. My hopes were let down when I saw the closed bedroom window. Praying to whatever it may be that controls the universe that it was wind and the front door was unlocked, I touched down on the ground in front of the building and tucked my wings in the best I could.

Once in the building, I made my way to the apartment and stood in front of it, making sure no one had seen me. I grabbed the doorknob cautiously as if it'd set off a bunch of different alarms by just the pressure my hand was putting on it. Turning the knob just as cautiously and opening the door, thankful it was opening, I stepped in, closed the door behind me, turned around and walked face first into Maes's chest. "Uh... hi, Mr. Hughes."

"Went out for a late night walk?" he asked. I nodded. Hopefully the dim lighting was preventing him from seeing the feather-covered extensions growing out of my back. "Did you land okay?"

I panicked. Did he see me touch down just now, "What do you mean?"

He pointed his thumb to the stairs, "You left the window open."

Relief washed through me, "Oh yeah. Yeah, I landed fine..." This was getting really awkward.

"You know, you could've used the door instead of risking a broken neck or something by jumping out of a second floor window."

"I guess you're right. I'm gonna head back upstairs now," I said, starting to maneuver around him so he wouldn't see my exposed back. "All that walking got me a bit tired, so I might actually fall asleep this time." Right then, my still recovering automail limb decided to quit out under me just as I was taking a step, and I fell.

I would've smacked my head on a coffee table, but Maes caught me fortunately. Unfortunately, I had flailed my wings out in an attempt to catch myself with the fall. Before I knew it, Maes had shut the door to the apartment and had pulled me into the bathroom, turning on a light. His eyes scanned my wings and I felt really awkward. I wanted to run out, grab Nudge, then take off out the window again. "I understand the jacket in the warm weather we've been having now."

I was somewhat relieved by that. "What did you think I was wearing it for before?"

He shrugged, smiling a bit. "Oh," He took off his glasses and wiped them off on his shirt, "I don't know, but human chimeras are unheard of, so I didn't expect this at all." I had officially decided I would mentally adopt this man as my father. He put his glasses back on and looked at me with a serious expression, "Is your friend upstairs like this too?"

I started get apprehensive again. "Why?"

He smiled a warm, family man smile. "I need to know if I need to work on protecting her more too."

I decided to lower my trust a bit and refused to say anything, which may have made it obvious she was like me. I need to think things through more. He lead me back to the bedroom where everyone was asleep. I pulled my jacket on and sat down in bed. Nudge's eyes cracked open as I sat down beside her and she looked up at me. "Is everything okay?" she asked sleepily. I nodded.

"Yes, now go back to sleep." She nodded and laid her head back down, going out like a light right away. Laying down beside her, I closed my eyes and was soon asleep as well.


	6. Ch 5:  Arrival in Rush Vally

"SQUEEEE!" Winry cried out. We had returned to the hospital and Ed had informed us of his plans to go to a town named Dublith. What Winry had been squealing about was a place along the way called Rush Valley. "You have to take me, Ed, you have to!" she begged.

"The answer's no." he replied as he put his red coat on. "Go on your own time."

She crossed her arms, "Then who's going to pay for me? I'm not a bank, Edward!"

I sighed. I really was siding with Ed mentally. If Iggy was still somewhere here in Central I wanted to be looking for him. If Winry went, I'd have to tag along with her until I could move around properly on the fake leg. What Ed said next brought my spirits down a little bit.

"Fine. You can come. Just don't expect this every time you beg me to take you somewhere." She squealed again. I guess I wouldn't be doing any Iggy-searching anytime soon.

"If you don't mind, I'll stay here in Central for a bit." Nudge piped up.

I looked at her and protested, "No way, I just found you, you're going to come with me."

"But Max, I could stay here and look for Iggy!"

"We can look for Iggy when we come back!"

"Maaaax!"

After a bit more going back and forth and getting odd stares from those in the room, I gave in to her pleading. Maes volunteered to let her stay with them and Winry took me to get ready for the trip. To be honest, I still didn't want Nudge to stay, but I trusted Maes and Gracia and decided to let it be for the time being. Winry packed both of our clothing. I had a few more jackets to cover my wings which she had so graciously bought for me.

We had the pleasure of riding the train again. The seats weren't too comfortable with and unless we somehow got an empty car, it was really crowded and the booths aren't very large, and all of us human-avians are a little claustrophobic. I guess I'd have to stomach it for a while...

We left the next day, my automail was slowly getting easier to walk on, but I was limping a lot. I still needed to adjust to the weight and the feeling of having no leg. I was looking forward to the pain the neck that would be - not.

I sat down awkwardly beside Alphonse who towered over me even more than Fang, Iggy, and Dylan did. Winry sat beside Ed who was drifting off with his head beside the window. Thankfully, we were lucky to get our own car. It was quiet for most of the ride, Winry and I chatted back and forth a bit, I got to know Al a bit more while talking to him, Ed fell asleep a few times, it was all good for the most part, but really boring. I was thankful to get out of there when we arrived in Rush Valley.

It was about noon and everyone was busy. I don't think I've been anywhere so full of mechanic crap in my life. Oh, I could only imagine the ways Gazzy and Iggy would use all of this for some sort of bomb or form of destruction. Winry was dragging Ed around, having him buy her things when people started noticing his arm - he had taken off the coat, it was quite warm out.

Why the hell was automail on one person so weird in a town full of people who made or owned automail? I hid away from the crowd forming, asking questions about the maker, if they could get a better look at it, then they started to strip him. I hate to say this, but that shorty had some nice abs. He stopped the chaos with a scream of rage and some alchemical mayhem to stop them, retrieving his clothes as everyone ran away.

I decided to wonder away at that moment, even though I had no clue where I was going and I still needed Winry for my automail, even though I'd likely get lost, because I always think things through, which is why I "never" get into trouble. And like always when I'm alone, someone jumped on me. That someone owned a familiar face.

I stopped breathing. I saw him, he was dead, there's no way he was alive now. How could something that backfired so badly on us have worked. Did the transmutation actually work? "Fang..." My hands were at his face in a second, feeling his perfect skin, his black locks brushing against my hands as I did so.

My eyes darted to his. They weren't his. This wasn't Fang. Now I was felling a sharp pain in my stomach. I dared to let my eyes travel downward towards where the pain was coming from to find a knife being held tightly in fake-Fang's hand, the blade inside of my stomach.

Then I jerked awake, nearly screaming.

A quick look-around revealed I was in a bedroom, on someone's bed. It looked like Ella's room in my mom's house. Standing up, I walked out, noticing how easy it was to move my leg. Rolling up my jeans I saw my leg was flesh and bone.

Walking down the stairs, I could smell mom's cooking and I walked into the living room, "What happened, when did I get here?" I asked, to which I got no response. I walked into the kitchen and mom was standing there making some food, Ella sitting there doing homework. Neither seemed to notice me. "Um.. hello?" Silence. "Okay then, I can do the silent treatment too, I dunno why you're giving it to me though..."I walked over to grab a cookie out from the jar mom held them in, but my hand went straight through the lid. "That's weird..." A few thoughts went through my head. I was either dead, or dreaming. I preferred the second option but it was most likely the first one. I looked around the room and mom had turned towards me.

Her face was void of any emotion. Her eyes on me felt weird, especially when a really creepy grin surfaced on her face. Before I knew it she was changing shape, she turned into the sloppy mess we had left in the basement when we tried bringing Fang back.

"Max..." It breathed out, "Why didn't you bring me back? Don't you love me? Or is watching everyone die around you all you're good for." I spun around to run, but Ella had turned into the small Ari I had known before they turned him into a beast.

"Why, Max? Why does he love you more than me?" He turned into the ugly form of an eraser, "Why did you take him away?"

I had officially lost my mind. I ran out of the house and into consciousness.

As my eyes cracked open I found myself lying where I had run into the Fang look-alike. Before I did anything, I reached up under my shirt to make sure I wasn't bleeding to death. As we all know, bleeding to death is never fun. "Aren't you quite the peculiar girl?" At this, I shot up, ready to fight.

Before me stood a brightly dressed Asian-dude with squinty eyes and hair tied up in a pony-tail. Beside him were two ninja-looking men with masks on, both looked ready to pounce on me. "What do you mean by peculiar?" I spat, hoping my jacket hadn't fallen off.

"Well, do you find girls sleeping on the ground regularly?" As a matter of fact, I knew two little girls who did that.

I snorted, this guy's smug way of speaking was annoying me, "I'm sorry, but I've got somewhere to go now, toodles." I turned around and nonchalantly started walking away. After a few moments, I spun around, "Why are you following me?"

"I want to see more of your strange acts." He said with an innocent smile.

"Sorry, but I'm not a circus animal, nor do I perform for people. Now, stop being a creep and go run along and play with your ninjas." With that I turned around and booked it. I glanced around my shoulder to make sure he wasn't following close behind and soon as he was out of sight, I pulled off my jacket and took off.

Up in the air I tied the jacket around my waist and looked around to make extra sure no one saw that. I let out a sigh, "People sure are weird here...I should probably look for Winry and the brothers... but I can't touch down here... damn it." I sighed again. I really need to stop jumping before I think. I landed on top of a roof and looked around the area. None of them were in sight so I just sat there, sighing. I hoped I wouldn't have to spend the night on the streets, not that it's something I can't handle, but I was just getting used to sleeping in nice beds.

Oh well.

**Yay, update! Thanks for reading!**

**The next update may be a bit slower (I'm going to work on a few of my other fanfictions and get them updated too). Remember to Review! The more reviews the easier it is for me to remember to update!  
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	7. Ch 6:  Whenever I Get Close To Someone

Hughes had decided he was going to drag the chocolate-skinned avian-human around with him. God knows why, but he did. One day he was busy so he dropped the talkative girl off in Roy Mustang's office, having already explained the situation. Oh the hell he was going through.

"So then, I was all like, 'No way, Dylan sounds way better than Justin Beiber,' and the girl kept like going on about how great his voice was," Nudge had been telling Roy the most peculiar story she's ever told, "he just sounded like a little girl to me, so then when I made Dylan sing for her she didn't react at all, it was really weird, then she left and then there was this really awkward silence. Did you know that every time there's an awkward silence a gay baby is born? I don't know if it's true or not, not that I care, I've never really met a gay person before. I wonder if they're really weird like everyone says they are. Hey could you show me that sparky glove thing again, that was really cool. Are you okay? You look really mad, is everything alright?"

"Peachy." Mustang said in aggravation.

"You're a fruit? You should really get that checked out." Nudge replied. Roy's face met the desk. "Are you sure you're okay, Mr. Mustang? I was just kidding, you know."

Roy sat up, "Don't you have something better to do?"

"Like what?" Nudge asked pointedly.

"I don't know, smell flowers, go shopping."

Nudge brightened, "Could you take me?"

Roy was already walking out of the room, "Lt. Hawkeye, please take Nudge out shopping!"

The sharpshooter sighed and motioned the African-Avian-American to follow her out of the room. And from that day on, Riza never bought anything pink again.

Nudge was in the middle of a pink fashion show for Roy and the others - she wasn't the one dressing up - Hughes returned from whatever tasks he had been doing that day with a familiar head of strawberry-blond. "Okay, I'm here to take Nudge back to spend the rest of the night with Gracia!"

Nudge nearly tackled Iggy as she hugged him, "You found him, you found him, you found him! How did you find him?"

The blind avian-human blinked a few times, "I kinda ran into him?" he said.

Hughes nodded, "And Maximum gave me a very descriptive description of him. I just asked him for his name and then I knew it was your friend."

Nudge giggled ecstatically, "Max'll be so happy to see you, Iggy! Well... she'll also be upset because you're head is all wrapped up because you have no eyes. But then she'll be overjoyed that you're okay! But... she might kill you for running off and leaving me alone in the hospital. But she'll still be glad that more of flock is together now! Well... kinda. But-" Iggy had covered her mouth before she continued going on.

"I think we get it," he said, he turned his head towards Maes, "So, are you gonna take us to your extremely cute daughter and wife now?"

Hughes grinned and grabbed both of their wrists, nonchalantly dragging them out, "You can't even see and you can tell my darling Elicia and Gracia are such lovely girls!" he said giddily as he dragged them away.

-0-0-0-

As the days went by, Roy stopped accepting Nudge to stick around while Hughes did things, so Maes was forced to take her with him wherever he went. Nudge discovered that the family man was trying to help the Elric brothers in their search for the stone and a way to restore their bodies and decided she'd help too. Besides, she was curious. She'd do solo research, bringing Iggy along as an excuse to not tag along with Maes, but she'd often go with him to access materials and such. Max would've been proud of her for becoming so focused on this one thing. But what she discovered scared her.

Why would anyone use something that could cause so much chaos and harm? Being smarter than she appeared, she saw through many coded alchemy texts, discovering the dark secrets of alchemy that had become taboo. She had experienced first hand how human transmutation could damage you if you did it, but so many other small tasks could harm one. She didn't want to be someone who was able to create something the School had. She wasn't going to harm even animals like that. She swore to herself she'd never use any form of alchemy again.

"Mr. Hughes can I write a letter to Max?" Nudge asked out of the blue one day.

"Do you know where she's staying?" he replied.

"Well, could I send one to Ed and Al so they can give it to her? You know where they are right?" she asked again.

Maes smiled warmly and got her some paper and a pencil, "Just give it to me or Gracia and we'll mail it out for you when you're done."

Nudge smiled sweetly at him then sat down and got to work on the letter.

It read:

_Dear Max,_

_Mr. Hughes is really fun and I'm hoping you'll get here in time to try some of Mrs. Hughes yummy pie! I know she had some when you were here, but you didn't try any. I met Ed's boss thingy. His name is Roy Mustang he's a kernel_**(1)**_. Were Military people called Kernels back home? Hmm, it's weird. Why would they call someone corn?_

_Anyway, I've been researching things about alchemy and the stone thing Ed and Al are looking for. Alchemy is really scary Max. Did you know Alchemists have the ability to create things like us? I don't want to use alchemy anymore because of it._

_Mr. Hughes is coming close to finding out some things about what Ed and Al are looking for and he's only told me about it because I was sitting there with him. I like being able to help them like this, I hope they'll appreciate the work we've all been doing!_

_I don't know what else to write,_

_Nudge._

Nudge sat back and smiled at her well written letter. She grabbed an envelope and folded up her letter, sticking it inside. She wrote on it to give to Max and sat it on the table in the guest room, in case she'd add a P.S. later. She got in bed and laid down. She and Maes were going to head to Central Command tomorrow to look into more things. Why the Lieutenant Colonel was letting her in on all of this was beyond her, but she didn't care at the moment. This intrigued her and she trusted him.

Soon she was asleep.

-0-0-0-

The Hughes family went out for breakfast the next morning, bringing Nudge and Iggy along. Maes bought a pair of shades for Iggy to wear so his face wouldn't have to be suffocated by the wrappings all the time and had sent in a request for false eyes for the boy, he'd be going in to see what size he'd need later.

After a while, Maes started speaking as every was finishing their meals, "Nudge, Iggy, I'd like to ask if you two would like to be treated as part of our family while you're here."

"So, sorta like adoption but not?" Iggy asked.

Maes nodded a bit, "It's more like guardianship."

"We want you all to be able to have a roof over your heads without worrying about anything. We enjoy you're company greatly and Elicia would love to have some siblings," Gracia added.

Nudge couldn't stop them from coming, before she knew it she was crying.

"Nudge, dear, are you okay?" Gracia asked worriedly.

She smiled, "You're all so nice. I don't know what to say...Iggy?"

His eyes could no longer speak for him, but his eyebrows said he wasn't sure. He had the same feelings as Max towards getting near good people - something always happened that they didn't like. Either it was treating him like a circus animal, that person really working with the school, something bad happening to that person. It all was risky business. "If you think Max would be okay with it, Nudge."

Nudge smiled and hugged Maes around the neck, "Yes! I want to be Nudge Hughes!" Laughter was shared around the table.

-0-0-0-

Nudge was at Central Command with Maes, it was starting to get late and she was trying to stay awake, having gotten used to going to bed at a normal time. "You want to head home, Nudge?" Hughes asked softly.

"I'm fine, we're almost there, I feel it!" She said excitedly. Maes smiled at her enthusiasm and refocused on what he was doing.

A few minutes passed before Nudge ran out saying something about holding it in for an hour. Hughes shook his head, smiling with a chuckle, but as the door shut behind her and the light from outside vanished, the light above him shut off.

He sprung up from his seat taking out one of his knives. Before him stood a busty woman with a flattering body and long, black, wavy hair. On her chest the tattoo of a winged dragon attacking his own tail circling a set of arrows creating a star, right above her cleavage. He stared at her as she lifted an arm, pointing a finger at her. The finger extended out and pierced his side, fortunately nowhere vital. As a retaliation he threw his knife into her forehead and made his way out of the room.

He walked towards the phones, clutching his bleeding side and drawing the attention of a woman sitting at the reception desk, he ignored her questions as he changed his mind from whatever he was doing and left the building. Nudge had come out of the bathroom just in time to see this.

"Mr. Hughes, are you okay?"

"Nudge, go home." He ordered her, not sounding at all warm as he usually spoke to her.

"What happened!" She demanded.

"Go. Home." He said again, pain obvious in his tone of voice. Nudge stopped walking when the receptionist woman grabbed her arm in some attempt to get Maes attention. Nudge stood there, staring as the man who just became the only person she'd want to call a father walked away with blood ruining his clothes and staining the ground.

After the woman ran back inside to get someone to stop him, Nudge took off after him again.

She heard the all too familiar sound of a gun going off and she stopped a moment. Her mind raced at the possibilities and she took off faster than she thought she ever had before, "Mr. Hughes!" She froze in her tracks when she found the phone booth, two black booted feet with blue panted legs laying on the ground in front of it, a pool of blood forming around the booth.

Shaking, tears forming in her eyes, Nudge approached the phone booth quietly and slowly. As she neared it she could see a bloody hand print smeared on the fogged up glass, pushing her to speed up. "No, no, no, no!" She nearly screamed as she started running towards the booth. She stopped right beside it and dropped to her knees in the blood, moving the door away from Maes lifeless body.

"Mr. Hughes, get up, it's not time for a nap, you need to go home and help Gracia take care of Elicia!" She shook the man she had grown to love as a father in such a short time, "Mr. Hughes, you can't die, please don't die!" She felt two hands pull her back away from the body gently and she broke out into wailing tears. She turned around and looked at Maria Ross's face, she stared for a moment before digging her face into the woman's chest stomach and crying her heart out.

Nudge would never forget the event that took place.

**I have a bit of writer's block/lack of motivation for my other stories... so... UPDATE HERE! :D**

**(1) We all know of the Flock's lack of schooling. I'm assuming Nudge may have a vague idea of how to spell Colonel do to how it's pronounced.**


	8. Ch 7: Whereabouts

**Forgive me for taking so long: there was an odd glitch in the program and my original file vanished, then I rewrote where I got, only to get writer's block. Now I've got a direction I'm going. Posting this on my birthday so... anyone wanna wish me one? You don't have to. xD I'm just sayin'.**

* * *

><p>It wasn't supposed to end up like that, he wasn't supposed to end up here with them, he wasn't supposed to be damaged like them. Had he been tricked? No, that couldn't have been. Maybe he should've delved into something more dangerous for them to go into. Even if it did end up effecting him he'd be more likely to fulfill his duty.<p>

That was the entire reason he was created. His creator wanted the failed experiments gone. They were no longer of any use and had destroyed a number of their labs and creations. He had given them the information for a reason, after all.

But he had failed and was trapped in the same world as those he was trying to dispose of. But...maybe he'd have an easier time disposing of the unneeded experiments here. Just maybe.

-0-0-0-

I eventually found Winry, who was working for a guy - who I was pretty sure was gay - named Garfiel who owned a shop titled after himself. My Automail was slowly becoming easier and easier to move around with and I even practiced flying around a bit with it on. I helped Winry out by doing errands for her a few times and hung around to watch her work. I understood after a bit that I'd never understand how she built my leg.

I was currently doing an errand for Winry, on my way back to the shop. I had a box full of heavy automail parts that I was having difficulty seeing over. Why did she need all this crap? Some of it didn't even look like it'd go on automail. Before I knew it, I was walking into someone - well, more like they ran into me.

I dropped the box, automail stuff scattered all over the ground, I was on my butt, the person I had collided with was sitting on top of me. "Excuse me, can you get off?" I said in a not-so-friendly way.

"Sorry, let me help you." I swatted his offered hand away when he stood up and started picking up the pieces of metal that I had dropped. Two metal hands came into view, picking up things as well. I looked up, not expecting Dylan at all.

Of course, I freaked out on him. "You idiot!" I shouted, I tackled him, grabbed his collar in my hand and started shouting in his face like any 'sane' person would do. "Because of you, I don't know where half the flock is, we're all missing body pieces, and Fang just died again!"

"Max, Max, Max, calm down!"

"I'm _not_ going to!" I screamed. "Your idea did absolutely nothing to help anyone!" I said. To my horror, hot tears were running down my face. Lovely. "Fang is still dead and it's all your fault!"

_"This is only the beginning Maximum."_ Great, now the Voice is saying some other _wonderful_ thing is going to occur! _Great!_ I forced myself to calm down and stood up off of Dylan, quickly wiping away the tears. He stood up as well but I interrupted him before he said anything, "Just go to home. Nudge is with a family under the name of Hughes in Central City. Iggy's also in Central somewhere. I can't be around you right now." When I got no reply I turned around and he had his eyes closed.

"What?"

"I'm really sorry, Max.. I wish...I wish I could do more." I almost felt sorry for yelling at him with that tone.

"You've done enough." I snapped. I said almost felt sorry. When he tried to speak again I pointed away. "Go."

I could never think that the next time I saw Dylan would be my last.

-0-0-0-

As I walked into Garfiel's with the supplies, I bumped into the Asian weirdo from earlier. I sat the box down - actually, I slammed it down, but same difference - and marched over. "Why are you here!?"

"Oh! I'm meeting someone here that I'm exchanging information with! Want some ramen? He's paying for it!"

I thought a moment. I was kinda hungry. I took the Asian weirdo's offer and sat down and started eating with him. "So, what's your name again?" I asked, face full of noodles. I really didn't remember if he had told me his name or not.

"Ling Yao."

"I'm Max. Call me Max, nothing else. Not Maxine. Max." I couldn't stand how many times people assumed Max was short for Maxine. Really.

He smiled his too-happy-of-a-smile and ate away. Soon I heard a familiar scream.

"What are you doing here?!" Edward screamed at him.

"I'm eating!" He said with his mouth full of noodles.

I waved my chopsticks at him, "Hi, Ed." I noticed that Ed was missing his arm from below his shoulder. "What'd you do?"

He pointed at Ling, "That jerk sicked his guard dogs on me!"

I glanced over at Ling. "You wouldn't tell me what I wanted you to, what was I supposed to do?"

Ed walked closer and I found out where his arm was - in his flesh hand - as he smacked the Prince upside the head with it.

I couldn't help but giggle, but unfortunately for Ed, Winry had just walked in. Chaos ensued that involved Edward being struck in the head with a wrench and miraculously not getting a concussion, followed by Winry looking over the arm and doing temporary repairs.

"You need to be more careful, Ed..." she groaned.

Ed smiled sheepishly then leaned his head back against the couch. I decided to ruin the silence and started talking, "So, how'd things go in Dublith?"

"Well, we found my teacher, got 'expelled', begged her to help us, Al got captured by a group of chimeras led by a guy who called himself a Homunculus, Fuhrer Bradley and others from the military came, he killed them all, Al got his memories of the gate back, and then we came here. What did you do?"

"Well, I had a bunch of weird dreams, was stalked by Ling here, ran into the guy that gave us the idea to try to get Fang back, sent him away, came back, saw Ling, ate ramen with him, you're paying-" I was interrupted.

"I never agreed to that!"

I smiled sweetly, "I don't care. I've got no cash." Before he could start ranting off at me about money I stood up and left the building.

I walked around outside for a bit. It was nice out and not many people were out and about like usual. I was starting to feel bad for going off at Dylan again but brushed it off. So far I knew where Dylan and Nudge were. Unless Nudge found Iggy already, that left Angel, Iggy, and the Gasman. I just hoped the youngest two were okay wherever they were.

-0-0-0-

Angel had quickly befriended this boy. His right arm and left leg didn't look like they belonged to him and it was hard to get into his head, but she assumed that was because of his lost memories. Despite the fact she had found this boy naked really didn't bother her. He was around Gazzy's age, so he wasn't going to hurt her - at least she thought - and he had somehow made clothes for himself once he saw her.

He didn't remember his name and he wasn't very bright. Angel tried teaching him, but it didn't work very well. He was too hyper, not listening. His only troubles were living alone, she concluded. Nothing seriously bad happened to him to make him learn to take care of himself - in fact, he acted as if he had only recently been abandoned, with how innocent she seemed. He and the Gasman, who now resided in the body of a puppet, got along quite fine despite it all.

The only thing that bugged her were the odd feelings she kept getting from the mark on the bottom of his foot. It was bizarre looking - a dragon or lizard with wings, chasing itself around the Star of David, trying to devour its own tail. What did it mean? She didn't know. She'd need to lean more about this world soon as she got off of this island.

**Sorry for it being shorter than usual and forgive me for it looking rushed, it was. Tell me what you liked/disliked/how I can improve :)**


	9. Ch 8: an Angel Without Wings

**About time I updated! I finally got an idea for the next chapter and this was born! I won't tell you want happens, just read and find out. Starting on the next chapter now!**

"You mean you're going back? But you just got back here in Rush Valley!" Winry cried out, about to hit Edward in the skull with her wrench.

"Yeah, but I get this weird feeling we need to go back..." Ed mumbled.

I watched these two from over my bowl of cereal. Ed got one of those amazing gut feelings that he needed to go back to see his teacher. I didn't now why, or what for, but I didn't really care either.

Winry crossed her arms, "I'm coming, then!"

"What!?" Ed shouted.

_Just like an old married couple._ I thought to myself.

"I think I have a right to meet the person who trained you in alchemy. Maybe Max here could use some training too."

I spit my cereal all over a certain Xingese prince sitting beside me, earning a frown from him and a slight glare from a certain female body guard of his. "I need training? Who said I'm going to do anything with alchemy?"

Winry turned towards me, "Well, if you're alone and are attacked something without any weapons it would be useful."

I thought a moment, _Well, I guess it could prevent all the broken bones and scars we're constantly getting in our fights against Erasers** (1)** and fly boys._ "I guess it would be useful," I said.

Winry smiled and turned towards Ed, "Come on, Ed, pleeeeeaaase~?" she begged.

Ed groaned, "Fine."

Winry squealed much like she did at the hospital and got her things ready. Ling smiled, "Can I come too?"

"No." Ed said blatantly and walked out. I snickered as Ling pouted, milk dripping off his hair.

Winry packed for me and helped me with my automail before she shoved me out of the shop. Ed got Alphonse and came out as well, opening his wallet to see if he could afford to take all of us again. Seeming assured he headed for the train station.

I was _totally_ looking forward to sitting in an uncomfortable train again. In case you didn't notice, that was sarcasm.

The train ride was short and incredibly boring. The only thing that really happened was a strange chill that ran up my spine as we neared Dublith, the town Edward's alchemy teacher lived in.

-0-0-0-

Nudge hadn't seen so many people wearing black before. The flock didn't even wear dark when they buried Ari after defeating the Director and Omega once and for all. Nudge mostly ignored this though. She was so crushed from the loss of Maes Hughes. Iggy was worried about her. She had completely turned off her tendencies to blab on about anything and everything.

Someone played a sad, funeral-sounding tune on a trumpet as Maes's casket came towards the pre-dug grave. Gracia was doing her hardest not to cry, to stay strong for Elicia. Iggy had a solemn look on his face Nudge had only seen a few times. Nudge herself was doing the same as Gracia, but not very well. Tears slipped down her cheeks from her chocolate colored eyes in pairs.

Even more heartbreaking, as they started tossing dirt onto the dead military official's casket, Elicia started to call out for her father, "They can't bury Daddy! He has important things to do, they can't bury him! Mama, stop them!"

Gracia gave up the fight and just hugged her daughter, crying silently. Nudge tapped Iggy's wrist and the two walked away from the crowd.

"Iggy, I can't... I can't do this anymore... I can't be around them. If I had just told him I was tired and wanted to go home maybe he'd..."

Iggy hugged the stuttering girl, "Shh, it's not your fault, Nudge, it's not your fault."

Nudge let herself cry onto Iggy. She needed to cry now more than ever.

-0-0-0-

We arrived in Dublith soon and were off the train in no time. Ed led us to his teacher's home - a butcher's shop. Just as gruesome as the School, but, well, at least it didn't reek of antiseptic.

We walked in, a frightening looking man was behind a counter chopping a red slab of meat. "Sig, is Izumi here?" 'Sig', I guess his name is, nodded over to a doorway, which Ed rushed through, "Teacher!"

Ed was nearly beheaded by a butcher's knife. "I said don't call me that anymore!"

I felt as though I'd like this woman.

"I need to know if something weird has been happening lately." I looked at Ed. Is that the weird feeling he had been getting?

"No, why?" I looked forward at the woman speaking. She was about as tall as me and had dreadlocks tied into a ponytail. On her collarbone was the same symbol on the back of Ed's red coat.

"Gut feeling."

_"Max?" _A familiar, young girl's voice called.

I turned around, looking for the voice I just heard that sounded so familiar. _"Max, it's Angel!"_ Angel's voice came loud and clear. I turned and started walking out. "Where are you?" I said aloud.

_"I'm on an Island."_

"An island? Is Gazzy there with you?" I dove into an ally and released my wings from beneath my coat. _"Yeah"_

"Alright, I'm coming for you, Angel."

I took off and rose up to see everything around me. A large lake was nearby. _Angel, if you're so close why not just fly up?_

_ "I can't."_

_ Why can't you?_ I started towards the lake, seeing a forested island. _"I can't feel my wings..."_ Angel's voice sounded so scared, it broke my heart.

_I'm almost there, meet me on the beach._

I touched down on the beach and looked around. The island was a lot smaller looking from where I was standing. "Angel?"

Two heads popped up from behind a large boulder - I was surprised to see the Gasman's wasn't the second one. A bright smile appeared on the little girl's face as she stood up and rushed over, leaping in the air as she hugged me. I hugged back as I fell onto the soft sand. "You found us!" Angel cried.

I looked over at the little boy who was with her. He was short and had long, black hair. He wasn't wearing a shirt. "Who's that?"

Angel looked over, "He doesn't know his name. I woke up with him looking over me...he's really not too bright and I can't read his thoughts."

I let go of Angel and stood up, "Hey, kid!"

The boy stood up, exposing his frontal nudity. Meh. I walked over and looked over the boulder at him. He looked to be about ten years old. He had long black hair that reached his butt and covered his right eye, his eyes were soft violet; he had pale skin, but his right arm and left leg were of a different tone and his right arm had a scar around a part in the shape of an animal's bite.

I sat on top of the rock, "You okay?" I asked, poking the boy in the nose.

He blushed a bit and nodded. I stood and went to check on something more important, where was Gazzy and what was wrong with Angel's wings. I sat in front of Angel and brushed a curl off her face, "Angel, sweetie, do you know where Gazzy is?"

"Right here!" His voice piped up from Angel's shoulder.

I blinked a few times, looking at the wooden puppet siting on her shoulder. "Gaz?"

"When I woke up and saw Fang I couldn't see Gazzy or anyone else anywhere, but a voice told me Gazzy needed a body or something..." Angel started explaining.

Could it have been the Truth thing that spoke to her? Or that voice that she claimed told her Fang would be first to die. Either way, I was in no way happy to see the Gasman in that form. Fighting back my emotion and gathered the both of them into my arms again, mumbling a soft apology.

Letting them go I asked Angel to lift up the back of her shirt. She turned her back towards me, sitting Gazzy's puppet form down in the sand. My heart shattered when I saw blood stains running down the back of her shirt. She lifted the back up slowly - when I didn't immediately see feathers I knew what was wrong. She lifted her shirt passed where her wings were supposed to connect to her back. All that was there were two, long, ugly scars.

My baby's wings were taken from her.

**(1): I didn't even notice I had written wolf-men here, thank you Gemma Rose**


	10. Ch 9: the Sin of Prejudice

**Sorry for the shorter chapter, I wanted to get it out before I left for my dad's.**

Angel tucked in one arm, the nameless kid under the other, I flew back to the main land. Gazzy sat neatly on my shoulder, clinging to my hair flipping around all over the place - I really need to cut it or tie it back next time I decide to fly on a windy day.

I landed in an ally and sat the two down. Realizing how naked the boy was, I took off my jacket and placed it on him. It was oversized on him but still didn't really cover everything up, so I picked him up and walked with Angel towards...uh...was it Izumi? Izumi's house.

We went through the butcher shop, Sig - that's what I think Ed called him - was cutting away at meat slabs. Angel looked away and followed me into the house-part of the building. Izumi wasn't anywhere to be found, but Edward, Winry, and Al were all sitting on a couch, talking and eating.

"Hey, Ed-" I started, but the runt cut me off, jumping up and blabbing in my face.

"Where'd you run off to? Who are the kids you've got with you?"

I sighed. "This is Angel, she's the youngest of my...family... and up here on my shoulder is the Gasman, don't ask about his name, and we don't have a name for the kid. By the way, Ed, you have any clothes for him that he can borrow?"

Ed looked him over a bit, a look of distraught crossed his features, then his sighed. "Yeah, I've got a few things that could fit him." **(1)**

Ed walked away with the kid and I sat down with Winry and Al, pulling Angel onto my lap. She gawked at Alphonse's empty shell of a body. She turned towards me, "Max, how is an empty suit thinking?" she suddenly asked.

Winry and Alphonse stared at her. I sighed, "Angel's abilities are reading and sending thoughts. Angel, Al is like Gazzy." She nodded in understanding.

Izumi returned some time later, seemed to recognize the boy, but she ignored it. We all ate. I'd have to say I missed the taste of fresh meat, may it be rat or beef. I asked for seconds and thirds - a growing bird-girl needs her food! It was delicious.

-0-0-0-

Dylan walked through Rush Valley, thinking to himself about how much he messed up. All he wanted was to be with Max. It didn't seem fair to him. So what Fang died? Dylan couldn't care less about the poor bastard. Because of him, Max despised him, how could he feel bad for a guy that did that to him? What did Dylan ever do? Well, he did try to convince the guy to leave Max... but that doesn't matter!

Dylan froze up when he saw a shadow run past him. He followed the shadow with his eyes, hoping it was nothing to worry about. Suddenly, Fang stepped out in front of him.

But wait, wasn't he supposed to be dead? Why was Fang here? Did the human transmutation work?

Dylan didn't have much more time to think before his blood splattered on the ground beneath him. "You will be the first to die..." Fang said. His voice seemed different. It still contained all the hate Dylan knew Fang held for him, but it seemed more cold, more angry. It seemed darker. And now, getting a better look at him, Fang looked different too. His hair was another shade, a raven-like tone and his eyes were a shade of purple, his pupils slit like a cat's.

"Fang, what the...hell?" Dylan spat out.

"Fang... is dead. I am the sin of Prejudice," Fang, or Prejudice he called himself, said.

Dylan felt the cold steel leave his chest and he dropped down to the ground. Prejudice turned and started walking away. Dylan's world started to go black.

-0-0-0-

"Are we there yet?" The little boy whined. We were back on the train on our way back to Rush Valley. The boy tagged along with us as well. **(2)** We had gone out and bought him some clothes so he wouldn't have to wear the spare outfit Ed had. He was in a baby blue t-shirt and jeans. He was honestly kinda cute. The only thing we had difficulty getting him to wear were shoes, but he gave in to some cheap sandals.

"Almost..." Ed groaned. I had a feeling this kid was starting to annoy the bean.

Angel stared outside the window, Gazzy's puppet body sat in her lap. They both were oddly quiet, but that made sense, I guess. Angel couldn't even fly anymore...Gazzy's body was long gone. I clutched my metal knee through my jean leg. They lost far more than I did...

The train started to come to a stop and we got out and started for Garfiel's. We were going to leave the kid with a family Winry supposedly helped out in the birth of a baby and she had planned on tagging along with the brothers to Central again. Meaning I'd have to ride on the uncomfortable train for even longer. Yay. Note my overflowing joy. We arrived, ate, and settled down for the night.

-0-0-0-

Dylan woke up in a white bed. White bandages were wrapped around his chest. How had he survived? That didn't matter. He needed to find Max and tell her what had become of Fang...or..this person who looked like Fang who called himself Prejudice. He got up out of bed and made it before climbing out of the window before taking off into the sky.

-0-0-0-

I lay awake in one of the family's guest rooms. I met a girl named Paninya who lived there. I liked her a lot, actually. I missed seeing people with attitudes like that. She had automail too. She told me about how she used to be a pick-pocket, trying to repay a debt she owed to the older man living here, his name was Dominic, I think. The man and woman, Dom's son and daughter-in-law, Ridel and Satella, were nice enough. They were somewhat entertaining, though.

Suddenly there was a banging on the door. I heard a shuffling of feet outside of the room they were letting us crash in and I sat up. Who the hell would come around so late like this?

I stood up and walked over to the door to see the late-night weirdo and cracked it open to peek out. The front door wasn't in sight so I quietly walked out and looked around the corner.

There, standing in the doorway, was Dylan. His shirt was ripped in the chest area and blood was soaking it. He was a total mess. "Max!" He spotted me... crap.

"What the-" Ridel shouted out as Dylan rushed passed him and grabbed my arms.

"Fang is out there!"

I slapped him, "Shut up! He's dead!"

Dylan shook his head, "The transmutation... it must have worked... he did this to me! But...he said he wasn't Fang..."

"Then who is he?"

"His name...he called himself Prejudice."

**(1) Ed is ashamed that a young boy can fit in his clothes okay.**

**(2) Straying from the two storylines here.  
><strong>


	11. Ch 10: the Sin of Wrath

**There is some violence in this chapter, just a heads up.**

* * *

><p>We got ready to leave the next morning and I had gone in to see how Dylan was doing. He was topless and had bandages wrapped tightly around him. He looked almost peaceful asleep like that. "I'll be sure we get him nice and patched up." Ridel said from behind me, startling me, "You go on and get home so you can finish the recovery process from the automail attachment."<p>

I smiled softly, "Thanks for letting him stay here."

"It's no problem, dear." Ridel said.

"Max, you ready to go?" Winry called.

I turned and cried out, "Yeah! On my way out!"

We left yet again on the train. I was hoping that, by some miracle, it'd be the last train ride I'd need for a while. Angel and the Gasman decided to stay with Dylan and Dom's family with he weird kid they'd run into. How I wished I could be them and not have to worry about a cramped space with uncomfortable seats.

-0-0-0-

"Well, well. You actually did some damage!" A thin, male figure with palm-tree-like hair, said to the Fang look-alike. He was known as Envy.

Prejudice glanced at him in silence. "But he didn't die..." a female figure with said. She had straight chestnut hair that rested on her shoulders and a soft face. She had a motherly aura about her and was known as Sloth. "And now he's with another Homunculus... you can finish him off after you take these and feed them to him." Sloth stepped forward and placed several red stones into Prejudice's hand. "It will restore his memory of what he really is."

Prejudice closed his hands around the red stones and looked at Sloth a moment before turning and leaving. Wings extended from his back as he took off into the air.

He soared over Rush Valley for a short time before pinpointing the house in which his target and the young Homunculus boy were. Touching down in front of the house, he looked over it. With his stillness he vanished. After that, he waited. After a while, two children walked out, following behind a teenaged girl with dark skin and automail limbs. One was a little girl with a halo of blond hair, carrying a wooden doll he assumed to be some sort of toy human children used. The other was a boy with long black hair that hung messily around him. He had big eyes innocent eyes that were deceiving of his true identity.

Prejudice stepped forward and revealed himself and approached them with an unusual speed. Paying no heed to the little girl and the automailed teen, he grabbed up the little boy and took off, returning to a normal speed.

The little girl with blond hair stared at him with shock. Perhaps she knew him in life. His attention soon went back to the little boy in his arms, who was now trying everything in his power to get out of them. "Let go of me! Put me down! Help!"

Prejudice touched own on a rough and sat the boy down who scrambled to get away. To stop him, Prejudice placed his shoe on the boy's back. "You're very thin...you should eat." He tossed the red stones in front of the boy who picked one up and chewed on it hesitantly. "It tastes good, doesn't it?"

Something in the boy's eyes changed as he scooped up the stones and chowed down on them. Prejudice stared, boredom written all of his face. The boy looked up at him and gave him the look of a hungry animal, "More...!"

Prejudice dropped more in front of the boy. "You know why you like it? That's how you'll survive. You're a homunculus." The boy continued eating the red stones. "Come with me. Your mother wishes to see you."

"Mother?" the boy looked up at Prejudice. His voice had become slightly more raspy.

Prejudice gave the boy a false smile and picked him up. "Yes. But first, I need help. The boy that is at the home you were staying at doesn't deserve life. He committed a very terrible crime. I need your help killing him."

The boy's entire personality changed as a wide smile appeared on his face, "Alright!"

-0-0-0-

Angel ran inside to Dylan. "Dylan! Fang just came down and grabbed the boy!"

Dylan sat up right away, pain jolted through him but he brushed it aside to get up, "It's not...Fang! He's going to kill him!"

The Gasman's face would have paled had he been human, "We can't let him do that! Dang it if I still had my wings I'd kick his butt for pretending to be Fang and for hurting you and for kidnapping him!"

Dylan forced himself to walk out. "Stay here. He's very dangerous."

The Fang look-alike touched down in front of the house and sat the boy down. Dylan stared in shock at the boy's sudden change in appearance. It seemed as though a sadistic grin has plastered itself on his face, his eyes had become a ruby color with snake-like slits for pupils "Time for you to die!"

Dylan opened up his wings and took off into the air, assuming that only the winged Fang look-alike could come after him. He did, taking out his sword and at a great speed he rushed at Dylan. The sword found itself embedded into the boy's wing and he came crashing down to the ground. The little boy ran up to him.

He had taken a stone nearby and turned his arm into a spike. Dylan did what he could to get up. He was still healing from his previous encounter with Prejudice and this wasn't going to be easy at all. He could hardly stand. The fall likely broke several ribs and his wings were damaged. If Max taught him anything though, it was to keep fighting until the end.

The boy charged at Dylan who somewhat dodged him when Prejudice came down. Angel, by this time had run out of the house with Gazzy on her shoulder, "Dylan!"

"I said stay inside!"

Great, now he needed to defend Angel at the same time. Prejudice saw this as a chance to take out his target and he moved towards Angel. Dylan did all that he could to push her back inside before he got there. In his distraction, he didn't see Prejudice come up behind him with his blade. The cold metal was shoved through Dylan's back and out of his breast bone.

Prejudice was suddenly knocked over when his skull was destroyed by one of the guns in Paninya's legs. She was standing in the doorway with Dominic, Angel and Gaz behind both of them. Dominic had a gun aimed at the Fang look-alike laying on the ground.

Paninya ran over to Dylan and pulled the sword from his back. Blood gushed from the would as Dylan let himself fall to the ground. Blood bubbled past his lips as he stared up at the sky with a dull look in his eyes. Angel started crying behind Dominic but was held back by the older man. The hole in Prejudice's skull was already closing, red sparks coming from him. Paninya sat beside Dylan, trying to figure out a way to save him but...

"He's gone..."

"Paninya, get in here!" Dominic shouted, staring at the male Homunculus. Paninya ran in, taking Angel further into the house and Dominic shut the door. Dylan's lifeless body was left out side.

Prejudice stood up and looked at the little boy. "Dante is waiting, come."

He left the family's home with the boy, only after he was gone did Dominic come out to retrieve Dylan's body.

Thus was the end of another Bird-boy's life.


	12. Ch 11: Arrival in Central Command

**I am so sorry that the chapter is so short. I had a bit of writer's block and really didn't have much of an idea what I wanted to do. So here is a sorta... hint? a hint to what happened after the previous chapter! Again, sorry for the shortness, I will try to give you guys a longer chapter next time!**

* * *

><p>I was abruptly awaken by the train stopping. Why do trains have to be so loud? Anyway, we got off, Ed yelled back and forth at two people who looked like a cross between samurai and ninja, talking about some young lord or whatever. Winry and I ditched them and went straight to the Hughes' home. I needed to tell Nudge and Iggy about finding everyone else and of course I'd like to have seen Maes again.<p>

I had no clue how heartbroken I was about to become.

-0-0-0-

"Jeb, you're the only person I can turn to right now..." Valencia Martinez said into her phone. "I went into Max and Fang's old room and there's a bloody mess there. Feathers are everywhere and they're nowhere to be seen. I'm worried." The woman paced in the kitchen, thankful that her daughter wasn't there to see her like this. "There shouldn't be anything coming after them, right?"

"I don't know." Jeb's voice said through the phone. "I only know that Max had been depressed as of late and Dylan was researching Alchemy."

"Alchemy is a dead science, Jeb."

"I know, which is why I was curious...look at the floor around the mess."

"It looks like it started peeling away. Some pieces of the paint are missing, especially as it gets closer to the stains..."

"Do you have a computer nearby?"

"Yeah...why?"

"Look up Human Transmutation..."

-0-0-0-

Angel could not just sit and wait for Max to return for her. She needed to go to Central and tell her what had happened. She would fly there, but the gate took her wings, and Gazzy was just a puppet now. She would need to go by train.

"I'll come back with Max and then we'll mourn Dylan in our own way," she told Ridel when asking for him to pay for a train ride to Central. He was hesitant at first, but then he realized that these kids were most definitely not all that they seemed.

The Gasman rode snugly in her backpack, filled with little snacks for the ride. All Ridel had to do was tell security that she was going to visit her grandmother and they let her on without many more questions.

As she waited for the train to move, she started running through her head how she would word everything. How would she tell Max of Dylan's death by the hands of Fang's clone? What would she do after?

-0-0-0-

I don't think I've ever felt so much grief. We arrived at the Hughes's apartment building. The door was answered by little Elicia crying out in happiness for her father's return. Nudge and Iggy were sitting together on the sofa inside. Well, Nudges was more or less using Iggy as a chair. They all looked miserable. Gracia then told us what had happened.

Right after they had asked to take us in, too. Nudge would constantly go off to help Maes at work, be it getting papers for him or whatever. When he started staying late researching things about the Philosopher's stone and what not, was when he started putting himself in danger. One night they were out late. Later than usual. In fact, they never came home. Gracia received a call from the hospital the next day, requesting she come to pick Nudge up. It seemed the girl had fainted not long after finding Maes in a phone booth. A pool of blood had already formed; a hole lay in his chest. His funeral had occurred a few days later, while we were in Dublith.

My first instinct was to run off and cry on my own, then have Fang come and comfort me. Even Dylan would be an alright comfort then. Then I remembered: Fang was dead and a clone was him was out to kill us, and Dylan was injured and in Rush Valley. I really couldn't leave these two alone at that moment. I simply decided to mourn silently with them.

-0-0-0-

"Your name is Wrath. I am your mother. I will take care of you. You were abandoned and now I've rescued you. You owe your life to me... Just like the rest of your siblings do. You will do as I say. You will go where I say. You will kill who I say." A woman spoke to the young boy after he and Prejudice returned. "Do you understand?"


	13. Ch 12: a Warning

"I understand." The newly dubbed 'Wrath' replied to his newly dubbed 'mother'.

-0-0-0-

Angel grew to realize how small she was in this big world. Even if this different world, everything seemed so big. She really missed Max right now. She was very alone.

Central City was very large and maybe the most modern area she had seen in this world. This was a big, scary place that Angel had never been. She feared getting lost, not finding Max, what if they had left this big city already? She knew very well that Max was not fond of places like this, so that wasn't a stretch. Where could they be?

-0-0-0-

That's it. No one else is going to die for any of us. I refused to let a death like Maes's happen again. I couldn't bare to see how upset this made Nudge, the struggle Gracia went through to make sure Elicia wasn't too far traumatized. How could I let this happen?

I lay back and grumbled. We didn't even deserve this hospitality. We were dirty kids that had no right to be here. Or some of us anyway.

"Max..." Winry called from the door way.

I sat up once again, "What is it, Winry...?" I asked in the most gentle, motherly tone I could muster.

"Ed wants to talk to you."

Oh right...Ed went straight for the military headquarters or something. I'm sure he'd heard of Maes death there. If not, it'd be obvious soon.

I went to meet him outside the apartment. "Max, can I trust you?"

"Trust me?"

"Answer the question, please."

"Yeah..." This was sudden, "Why?"

"Seeing as you've got the same issues we have and I assume you want to help everyone return to normal, I to help. But I also want your help."

This was sudden. "I'll ask again. Why? I don't think I've really showed you anything I'm capable of." Okay, that sounded a little conceited, but we all know I'm a badass bitch... okay, that kinda ruined the mood...ignore my drabbles, please.

"For one, you can fly." The bean said simply. "Judging by the way you act and the way you've described everyone's abilities, you've seen your fair share of fighting. Especially that nice little scar you've got on your chin there."

My hand went up to my chin. I a line of flesh had the odd smootheness of a scar. Why had I never noticed that?

"Anyway, you don't need to drag everyone in your special family into this, I know you'd like to steer far away from that. I feel the same way about Alphonse. Just tag along with us when we're going on research missions. I don't know how smart you are or anything, but another opinion is always helpful. I'll teach you the basics of decoding alchemic notes, but I don't expect you to really want to do that."

I felt a little offended, but he was right. The 'sit and read' life isn't for me, or anyone in the flock for that matter.

"Of course you can come along on other missions. That'd be more entertaining I suppose. You would have enjoyed the Fifth Lab."

I chuckled lightly, "This sounds nice and all..." I grew serious, "but will _they_ be safe?"

"I'll be sure of it. The Colonel's a bastard, but he's trustworthy."

I paused. "Alright, I trust you."

-0-0-0-

"Ugh! I can't think with all this...this... whatever! Too many voices." Angel groaned. Gazzy lightly patted her cheek, sitting on her shoulder.

"It'll be fine, Angel. We'll find her soon."

"That boy didn't have any thoughts..."

"Boy?"

"The one from the island? That Fang took?"

"Oh yeah..."

Angel sighed. "I think I sent a mental message to the wrong person." The girl deadpanned. "My control decreased so much when we arrived here."

"At least you have your powers still."

Angel looked at him and giggled lightly, "I'm sure you could do your voice thing still."

The puppet's face shifted slightly, "I shall destroy zee sneekers!" The boy cried from her shoulder in ter Borcht's voice. This got the girl strange looks, to which she smiled and moved from awkwardly. "Okay, probably shouldn't have said it that loud," the Gasman mumbled.

Angel found herself suddenly tensing up. Just a few feet away from them was an ally. The mind of the one in there was a sad, but very angry one. Slowly, she approached.

-0-0-0-

A hard thud came as Edward hit the ground. I sat by, watching as the brothers sparred in an open park area. They fought hard, but it seemed Ed lost each time.

The shorter Elric glanced over, "Hey, why don't you join in?" He asked where he lay in the grass. "I bet we could take him together."

Alphonse let out a giggle. I have to say, it was freaking adorable.

"Me?" I asked stupidly.

Ed grinned, "Sure." With a slight chuckle, I agreed and helped him to his feet. I then made the notification that his braid was somehow still perfectly tied up. How did that work?

I'm getting off track now. We each took fighting stances, everything was silent except for the breeze. Ed was the first to move.

-0-0-0-

"So you're victims of the curse of Alchemy as well." the tall man brooded. He had introduced himself to Angel as 'Scar'.

"We're trying to find the rest of our family right now." Angel said in a somewhat reply.

"I'd help but I'm a wanted criminal." Angel stared at Scar, looking deeply into his thoughts. He was quite an interesting man.

"I'm sure your brother loved you. I don't think he'd give up his arm for you if he didn't."

Scar looked up and stared at her. The girl slowly stood and gave him a warm smile, "I'm going to keep looking. Maybe we'll see each other again!"

Before he realized, the girl was gone and out of his sight. Quite the peculiar little angel she was.

-0-0-0-

Of all times... Right in the middle of our sparring fight! I had a brain grenade.

What's a "brain grenade" you ask? It basically is a headache in which it feels as if someone shoved a grenade into my head and let it explode. Usually with these come weird images or a voice that hints at what I should do but doesn't actually tell me what I should do. Yeah, that's my greatest power. Being insane.

On a serious note, it hit me right when the metal suit took a swing for me. So, as a result, I was smacked in in the face with a metal fist, which added to the bomb going off in my brains.

I curled into a fetal position and held onto my head so my skull wouldn't break open and shoot my brains all over the brothers. I'm not quite sure what exactly was going on around me, but a few images flashed by.

The white Truth guy. Fang. A woman with brown hair who kind of looked like Ed. A baby. A woman with dark hair and skin and red eyes.. A boy that looked like Ed but much more different. The little boy from Dublith. The leader of the country. A large...overweight man. Another woman. Another man that kind of looked like circle we used to try and bring Fang back. The Gate Doors. A frightening man with dark skin and white hair with Red eyes and an 'x' on his forehead. A sea of blood. More blood.

What was this?

"_A warning. An explanation. What to look out for."_ The Voice came from nowhere and stated this.

A warning? For what?


	14. Chapter 13

**Here's a slightly shorter chapter than I usually try to put out. This may be a bit filler-ish and I have no idea what I'm doing with this first part. Without further adieu, here's Chapter 13.**

**(1)**Sparks flew as a battle occurred late in the night. Chuckling lightly, a man showed off the alchemic symbols all over his arms and hands, "You would challenge the Silver Alchemist, Giolio Comanche, to battle? You've got pluck!" Comanche declared, "However..." he growled as he mashed his hands into the concrete. Chained spikes shot at his opponent, Scar.

Scar defended himself with ease and just as easily dodged a set of shuriken thrown at him, via jumping over them. He took the chance to go for the kill, but the Silver Alchemist wasn't going to be bested so easily. The spot where Scar's hand met the ground showed how lucky the dodge was.

Sliding across the ground on his peg of a leg, Comanche created a small scimitar and waited for Scar to charge. As he did, the man spun around like a top, but didn't hit his target, though successfully dodged another hit to the head. They charged again.

Blood dripped on the ground, Giolio had scraped a nice flesh wound into Scar's leg. He let out a laugh where he stood on a post on the bridge they stood upon. "Not bad at all. You got off with just a scratch."

Scar turned and gave him a cold stare with a grunt, "Just a scratch, was it?"

The great Silver Alchemist's peg leg shattered and the man fell off the bridge and into the water below. Scar dived down and grabbed Comanche's face. A bright light shone beneath the water and when it died down, deep red blood floated to the top. The Silver Alchemist was no more.

-0-0-0-

"The Silver Alchemist, Giolio Comanche murdered..." I read aloud from a newspaper I was skimming the morning after. "Body found in river, believed to be the work of State Alchemist serial killer 'Scar' who also attacked the Sewing Life Alchemist, the Iron Blood Alchemist, the Strong Arm Alchemist, the Flame Alchemist, and the Fullmetal Alchemist, two of which he succeeded in murdering...blah blah blah. Man, this place is violent." Iggy, Gracia and I were the only ones up, Gracia and Iggy preparing breakfast. "Iggy you and Nudge aren't going out alone at night here, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever." The no-eyed one called back.

"You be safe too, Max." Gracia called, "You and Edward are very similar and if you're anything like him you'll go and get yourself into trouble too."

I smiled lightly. It was rough losing Maes but Gracia's warm tone and cheery little Elicia managed to bring up all of our spirits.

I got up and pulled on a coat. Having gotten inspiration from Edward, I bought a black trench coat - it'd be easier to hide my wings without having to contort them to my body. When Nudge first saw me she brought up the Iron Man and Nick Fury's coat. Ed and Al were sucked into the story until Edward started analyzing how illogical it all was. He was bad as Nudge when it came to scientific nonsense.

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah - After I put the coat on I announced that I was going out and went out.

-0-0-0-

I gently rubbed my cheek. I still had a bruise from Alphonse's hit. He had a panic attack when I reacted like I did to the brain grenade. It was a bit amusing but sad. I really don't like seeing Al like that, panicky and worried. The normal sweetness of him is better. Why am I talking about Alphonse?

Anyway, Edward told me that the Scar guy had also blown his automail arm up, which was why he was at Winry's when we first met. Also warned me to watch out for the scary bastard. I'd make a mental note to steer away from dark skinned people with "x"s on their face.

"_Max, where are you?"_ Angel's soft voice suddenly came in my head.

"Wha-" _What are you doing? How did you get close enough to send me a thought? Why aren't you in Rush Valley?_

_"Dylan's- we had to..."_

_Where are you?_ I demaneded more than asked.

_"I'm outside of a restaurant...I think."_

_Stay put, I'm on my way..._

-0-0-0-

"Any luck?" Gazzy asked, looking up from her arms.

Angel looked back down at him and smiled, "Yeah. She's close!" She then frowned, "I couldn't tell her about Dylan.."

If the doll could frown, he would, "We need to tell her, Angel, it's important!"

"There you are!" Max called out as she ran towards them.

Angel smiled warmly and hugged her, "We finally found you!"

Max knelt down in front of her and put her hands on her shoulders, "Why didn't you stay with Ridel and Dylan?"

"Dylan-" Gazzy stared, but Angel interrupted.

"He abandoned us...he went looking for the guy that hurt him."

Max wrapped her arms around the little girl, "I'm sorry, sweetie...did you come looking for him or something?"

Angel nodded, "When we couldn't find him I started looking for you."

_Angel, she'll be upset if she finds out that he was killed and that we know..._ Gazzy thought at her.

_"She won't find out."_ Angel sent to him.

-0-0-0-

I brought Angel and the Gasman home and Gracia volunteered to make lunch. I saw Angel and Elicia hit it off right away and the two went off to go play with Elicia's things, Angel acting like a big sister towards her. I sat down next to Iggy, who was sitting on the couch, possibly asleep. I couldn't tell with his eyes bandaged. We'd probably take care of that later. And then he'd be eyeless and have his eyes closed all the time. I'd still not be able to tell.

Pulling off Fang-like-move, Iggy made me jump when he turned his head towards me and spoke, "So, how's Dylaaow! What was that for?"

I had punched him. Fang had been the only one to startle me like that, so having anyone else do it makes the 'fight' part of 'fight or flight' kick in. "Don't do that!"

"What?!"

I sighed, "Nothing...Dylan left to go find whoever injurred him for revenge or something. According to Angel, anyway..."

"You don't believe her?" Ig asked.

I sighed again, "She looked too apologetic for that to be all..." I leaned back and covered my eyes with the balls of my hands, "I really can't go through another loss in the flock, not after Fang."

I felt Iggy's bony fingers on my shoulder and looked at him. "Iggy?"

The pale teenager gave my shoulder a light squeeze and stood up, "I'm going to help Gracia in the kitchen."

**(1) **_This scene should have actually happened already...if I was following the Brotherhood story line, alas, the story line isn't either Brotherhood or the 2003 one :D!_

I'm deciding between using May Chang or instead of her, use the Tringham brothers from the 2003 Anime in the future. Leave any preferences in a review, maybe?

I'm also thinking of bringing Shou/Nina into this, even though that event should have happened already...but this is already a strange combination and I'm a sadist, so it's not an impossible event. And you all will hate me for killing Nina again but :P you'd see it coming anyway!


	15. Ch 14: Boring Days

The following day was quite boring. Ed and Al didn't come over at all and as a result, this jacked up bird family just spent all day sitting around the house trying to entertain themselves and keep their minds off of the most recent events. As I said, very boring.

Nudge, actually, had managed to get some books from a library about alchemy. She was desperate to find out the details. I was very afraid, though. Maes was killed for whatever he found out. I couldn't lose another flock member. Not after Fang **(1)**.

The day after that, however, was slightly more entertaining. Ed came over and invited me to go with him to some State Alchemist's house, mentioned something about getting research on "curing" me and finding the answers to his own questions. I figured why not give it a shot?

And then the rest of the day was boring again.

And then the next day came and he arrived early in the morning. "Let's go Max."

I snapped at him, yanking a brush through my knotted hair, "One second. I may not be the girliest girl, but even I need time to get dressed." A gave up on getting through the matted mess and just put it up in a ponytail. I'll chop it sometime in the distant future. I threw on my badass Nick Fury coat and started out the door with him.

"Max, wait!" Nudge called, trying to stay quiet so not to wake anyone else in the house. She ran over, pulling on her shoes, already fully dressed, "I want to come!"

"Why?" I asked. This would be extremely boring and I wasn't exactly sure what we were going to do there anyway.

Nudge replied quickly, "If he's a State Alchemist he's probably got a bunch of books that I can look at and take notes on and then I can help Ed and Al and finish Mr. Hughes' work!"

"Let her come along," Ed said, "a third opinion to bounce ideas off of is always helpful."

And as a result, I caved and let her come.

We all crammed into a tiny car being driven by Colonel Roy Mustang. That had to be my least favorite ride in anything ever. I think Nudge and I would just fly next time. We arrived quickly.

It was quite the large house with a fenced yard and everything. Roy made it to the door before the rest of us as we were squeezing to get out of the tiny car. Al was ahead of us and Ed was ahead of me and Nudge. Suddenly, a large shadow came over Ed. It was just above my head, the large dog about to flatten the shrimp. The boy was only able to get out a panicked scream before the beast landed on him.

Ahead, from the front door, I heard the giggle of a little girl. "Silly, Alexander!" She said with child-like speech. She stood behind a man that reminded me eerily of Jeb, grasping onto his pant leg.

"Please forgive me," Jeb clone said, "he just loves guests."

"Max, this is Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist," the Flame Alchemist explained to me as I passed him when we walked into the house. Soon as I stepped in, though, I wanted to hightail it right away. Though it wasn't strong, the smell of anesthesia and other smells belonging to the School alerted my senses right away.

This was going to keep bothering until I found out, so I said, "So uh, what does he do?"

Jeb clone—I mean Tucker looked back with a kind but still kind of creepy smile and replied for Roy, "I do research on Chimeras."

"Yes," Roy confirmed, "his greatest success, and what has let him keep his State Alchemist license is the creation of a Chimera capable of human speech."

If I remembered correctly, Ed and said a Chimera as something created when two separate species were combined. This man's entire occupation was held up by the same concept the School had. At least this guy had the decency not to kidnap children – or I assumed he didn't since the idea of speaking Chimera sounded like a weird concept to whoever spoke of it, that and why would he need to specify that it was human speech?

Nudge and I were shunned for a moment while the Alchemists spoke in another room, so we hung out with the little girl, learning her name was Nina and that the dog's name was Alexander. Nina was quite the adorable little girl. She reminded me of Angel in her most innocent years. She was just sweet and innocent and very lovable. She clearly loved the large dog. It's not a far stretch to say I bonded pretty easily with the sweetheart.

And suddenly, when the men were done speaking, the house became suddenly boring again. Both of the Elric brothers and Nudge sat down to read and take notes. I only had Nina and Alexander to entertain me. This went on for about an hour and I decided to take a breath of fresh air with Alexander. It wasn't long until Ed, Al, and sweet little Nina ran out.

The three, plus Alexander, ran around having fun while I went inside to see why Nudge wasn't joining in on it. I found her reading with papers scattered around her and a small stack of books. "Nudge?"

The girl's chocolate eyes met mine and she smiled, "Max, this is so cool, I think I just discovered a new power!"

I knelt down in front of her and put a finger over my lip. "Not so loud, Nudge, not everyone in this house knows about that."

She giggled and lowered her tone, "I, like, am a really fast reader. Look how many books I read. And the notes were really fast too!"

At first I thought she was probably smarter than she gave herself credit for, then I realized that the Flock had minimal education, especially in reading and grammar. Even I had difficulty spelling a few words. I looked around at the mess around the girl. That was an awful lot for the amount of time they spent in there. I looked at the small 2-book stack Ed had left behind. How is this much more educated boy reading slower than a completely uneducated girl?

"Awesome, Nudge!" I cheered. Once again, everyone else had more powers than me, but that didn't mean I couldn't be happy for her. Let's see… that made her a human magnet, some form of psychic, and now a super studier...?

"Could you help me stack the papers? I don't want to just leave this mess and it's hard to get out of without stepping on anything," she requested and I obliged.

And so we spent out pictures then went to join the others. The entertainment was cut short when Roy came to pick us up once more. We got in the tiny, cramped car once again and went on a horribly uncomfortable ride again back to the Hughes' residence. Somehow, Nudge fell asleep on the way.

"We're going again tomorrow," Ed said as the two of us climbed out, "would you or Nudge like to come again?"

I glanced at Nudge who was already walking into the apartment, "Yeah, I think we could come again."

Ed smiled, "Awesome. Your company makes it a bit more enjoyable."

I gave him a genuine smile and waved as they drove off once more. "Max, are you coming?" Nudge called.

"Yeah," I replied as I turned and walked back in.

* * *

><p><strong>1) Max said this in the previous chapter as well, I know, but I'm stressing the fear she has over this..or attempting to anyway.<strong>


	16. Ch 15: Breakfast with Brothers

"Max, wake up, they're here!" Nudge called, poking me in the ribs. This was a bit odd because I was usually the first one up. The girl probably was really excited for this.

"I'm up, I'm up…" I muttered as I sat up.

Nudge continued speaking, "Hurry up and get dressed!"

"Okay, okay! Calm down!" I loved that Nudge was starting to feel better…but why were we getting up so early? I mean, everyone was asleep still, even Gracia, so I asked, "Why are we getting up now?"

"I wanna go out for breakfast with Ed and Al!" She replied cheerily.

"But this early?"

"We have to get up early so I can ask before noon!"

This girl, I didn't understand sometimes.

As you can assume, we left after Nudge let me get dressed and somewhat presentable. As we were walking toward the inn they were staying at I thought of something, "Why didn't you just call them?" I asked.

"I don't know the inn's number," she replied.

"Likewise answer," I replied back with a hint of suspicion.

"That's the reason, I'm being honest here!" Nudge snapped back as if she were offended.

I laughed lightly at her reaction and gave her a cheeky grin, "Alright, alright, calm down, sweetie." All she did was stick her tongue out at me.

We got to the inn and Nudge went to the desk. "Could you tell us where the Elric Brothers are staying?" She asked in her politest tone.

The woman at the desk replied, "Would you like me to tell them you're here for them?"

Nudge smiled warmly, "That'd be great!"

The desk lady picked up a phone nearby and dialed a few numbers white we waited for her to greet someone. Nudge stood next to me and smiled up at the painting sitting above the mantel of the fireplace inside the foyer. "I really like it here, Max," she said, "Ed and Al are really nice, and Mrs. Hughes makes really good food. All the people we've met have been really decent compared to the people we knew back home."

"I guess you're right," I agreed.

"Why the hell did you come to wake us up this early just for food?" an annoyed Edward said from behind us.

Nudge turned towards the brothers with an, I have to admit, adorable giggle. She replied, "I wanted to be able to talk too, not just rush to eat then go to Mr. Tucker's house."

Edward sighed, "Alright, I understand. Where were you thinking of going?"

Nudge then put her finger to her lip in thought. She was just doing so many cute things today. "Well…," she mumbled, "I don't really know where anything here is. I was hoping you knew a good place to eat breakfast at."

Ed sighed once more, this time with just a glimmer of a smile on his lips. "There's a place nearby that we usually go to when we're here."

Nudge squealed just like she would when she saw a cute outfit in the mall when we decided to shopping. "Thank you so much, Ed!" She cheered, hugging him. I giggled a bit. As all us mutant freaks are taller than average for our varying ages, and Edward was a bit below average for his age, the hug was awkward, Nudge kind of hunching forward. Ed was only at her chin when she stood upright (**1)**.

After she released him, the four of us left. Edward took us to a small café about a block away. There wasn't anyone inside except for two old soldiers drinking some coffee and laughing at something only older people find funny.

The brothers led us toward a table for four and sat down, being oh so polite and pulling out a chair for Nudge, but not for me.

Within moments, a casually dressed young woman gave us small white menus, "Hi, my name is Anna, I'll be serving you today, can I get you anything to drink?"

I quickly skimmed the menu for the drinks section. They didn't really have much so I just looked up, "Could I get some water?"

Nudge nodded, "Me too." The brothers each asked for their own drinks and then the waitress went to get them.

"So, was there something specific you wanted to talk about?" Ed asked, looking at me.

Since this wasn't my idea, I looked at Nudge and she put on the biggest smile. "I just wanted to have breakfast with you. Is that wrong?" she said.

This put a gentle smile on Ed's face that I wasn't very familiar with. It was always goofy or sarcastic and sometimes even fake. I liked this smile. It felt more genuine and more trustable.

And soon, Anna returned to take our orders. I went a little lighter on the order than I would if we had more money and weren't paying for it. I decided to be a little thankful that Ed was willing to pay for this. And even if he wasn't, he was going to pay whether he liked it or not.

I was surprised at how much Edward himself ordered. It wasn't as much as Nudge or I had, but this boy certainly liked to eat.

Nudge and Alphonse started talking to each other – or more, Nudge was talking and Al was listening. I was happy to see Nudge not thinking about what had happened to Maes. I was happy that she was talking someone's ear off even if they didn't approve. She blathered on, "…and when Iggy blew up the car, the entire car garage lit up! It was really bright and then really dark because of the smoke. Why does smoke look like that anyway? Why is it white or gray or even black? It's just weird, don't you think? Well, anyway, after that—" Nudge was interrupted when Anna returned with our food.

"Enjoy your meal!" she said in a chipper voice before leaving us to eat.

That morning was quite pleasant for the most part.

-0-0-0-

Edward had called Colonel Mustang and told him we would just walk to the Tuckers' home. This gave me the chance to get another good look at the city. It wasn't anywhere near as industrial and overcrowded as New York. It was more similar to the bigger cities in States no one remembers are actual States unless they live there.

It was a lot less cramped than the car and I quite enjoyed that. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like sitting down very long if I can't spread my legs out like a guy. Don't judge me, you girls do that too.

When we arrived, Nudge and I entertained Nina while Ed and Al studied. I have to say, Nina was very adorable. Her dog, Alexander was lovable too. We played until about lunch time, when Ed decided to write back to Winry.

I took this time while everyone was teasing Ed and went to talk to Shou.

"What do you need, Max?" he asked in a pleasant tone that really didn't sound pleasant.

"You study chimeras, right?" I started which was responded to by a nod, "is there a way to separate them…?" I honestly liked having wings and abnormal height and strength, but I knew there were members of the Flock that wished otherwise. If there was some way to help them achieve that I'd do it just to make them happy.

Shou paused and wet his lips as he thought for a moment, "I don't believe so. But I wouldn't say it'll never be possible."

I nodded, "Alright…" I started to leave the room before Nina ran in with a drawing of what I assumed was herself, Shou, and Alexander and another person.

"Daddy, can you send this to mommy?" She asked sweetly.

Shou smiled gently. I didn't like this smile. It was completely unlike Ed's genuine gentleness. This felt completely forced. His eyes read an expression I really didn't know how to describe but I feel like I had seen it somewhere before.

"Of course, Nina. Go enjoy yourself now."

Nina grabbed my hand randomly and started pulling me out with her, "Come play with us, big sister!"

I felt my cheeks heat up. Why was she calling me that? It was weird. I didn't say anything, though. Nina was too cute.

We spent the rest of the time goofing off with Nina before we departed. Ed and Al went one way and Nudge and I decided to take the sky route. I needed to spread my wings out. After seeing Shou smile at Nina like that they had felt really tense.

We had ducked into an ally and had taken off soon as we were sure no one was watching. The cool air felt nice on my cheeks. My hair swatted me in the face a few times and I was reminded of the need to just chop it short.

Nudge seemed to be enjoying herself too. I realized I was the only one who really had flown around a lot. Her hair was up in a messy bun and wasn't moving around as much. I had to try that some time.

She looked over and smiled at me. Everything felt as though it was starting to get better.

**(1): Ed's height is 4'11" and I gave Nudge my height, 5'7" (I'm slightly above average). Using some quick math and a ruler, I decided this is where he'd be standing next to her.**

Not that anyone cares but here's the basic height "chart" I'll use for the Maximum Ride characters when I decide to come pare heights. (Angel is actually probably taller but we've already got human Gazzy taller than Ed I didn't want him to feel too short)

Max: 5'9" (1.75 m)

Iggy: 6'3" (1.91 m)

Fang: 6' (1.83 m)

Dylan: 5'11" (1.80 m)

Nudge: 5' 7" (1.70 m)

Gazzy: 5' 4" (1.63 m)

"puppet" Gazzy: 1' (0.30 m)

Angel: 5' (1.52 m)


	17. Ch 16: This is a Chimera?

**Please forgive how long it took to upload this! I thought I did already! So sorry!**

**This is also a bit shorter than other chapters. Sorry for that as well.**

* * *

><p>We got up early again and went over to Shou Tucker's home once again. The morning air felt cold and unforgiving and it had a foreboding atmosphere about it. I wasn't ready for what was to come. When we arrived everything was dark inside the house.<p>

"Hey, Tucker, where are you?" Ed called into the house.

There wasn't any response so we started looking around. After a short while Nudge called out loud enough for us to hear, "There's a door open over here!" We each approached the door and I was taken aback by the reek of anesthesia.

"Nudge stay here." I ordered.

"Why?"

My head spun around towards the girl. She had a frightened look in her eyes. I couldn't let her down there. If it smelled this bad up here than it must've smelled even worse down there. "We'll be back up before you know it, sweetie."

"But I want to go down," she protested.

"Stay here." I replied.

"Alphonse is going!"

"I don't care! I'm not in charge of Alphonse. You stay here and wait!"

"This isn't fair!" Nudge stomped her foot down like a spoiled child not getting a toy they wanted.

"Stay here!" I snapped. I started walking down before she could protest any longer. At this, Ed whispered something to Alphonse and then walked down behind me.

It was dark and the reek of anesthesia started giving me a headache. A few feet in front of me, sat Shou and a creature with white fur and long brown hair coming from its spine. For whatever reason, chills ran down my spine that were so harsh that I couldn't move. Ed, however, was able to step closer.

Shou, finally noticing us, looked up with that creepy smile of his, "Oh, hello you two, look at this. I did it again."

"A talking Chimera…" Edward uttered. He knelt in front of the creature and gently pet its head.

Shou smiled at the creature and spoke, "This is Edward, dear; he is your friend."

The creature spoke with a voice filled with pain. It was deep and clearly bent out of shape. It seemed to have some difficulty say the words, "Edward…friend…"

Tucker's creepy smile widened, "Yes, very good…!"

"Edward…friend…" it stuttered again. Ed quietly whispered a yes, his face somewhat solemn. The creature looked up at him, "Why does it hurt big brother…?"

Finally, the chord struck me. This man was the same abomination that you'd find in the School. This disgusting man had messed with a human life. Even worth it was the life of his own child! He was even lower than Jeb, doing something like this to his child. She didn't look like any sort of creature I'd ever seen. At least Ari resembled a human.

Ed stood up, his voice was low and a tinge of anger whispered out as he smoke, "Tucker…tell me… how many years ago did you create your first chimera?"

"Two years ago."

Ed continued, "And when did your wife leave you?"

"Two years ago. Why?"

Being behind him, I couldn't see Edward's expression as he looked up at the despicable creature, "Tell me, where is Nina and Alexander?!"

A look of annoyance crossed the bastard's face, as if he was right in doing this. "I hate damn prodigies like you. Always too smart for their own good."

The next thing that happened was a loud crack as Ed's fist made contact with Shou's jaw, knocking him back into the wall. Nina came and hid behind my legs, her tail tucked between her legs.

"Damn it! Why would you do that?!" Ed screamed, "She's you're daughter! How can you just rob her of her humanity like that?! That's what you did to your wife too, isn't it?!"

Nudge and Alphonse were soon down there with us. The first thing Nudge did was vomit from the overwhelming stench of anesthesia. I was snapped from my horror to help her. Looking up from her side, I found that Ed had started beating the shit out of Shou with his automail. The bastard's face was starting to change colors as hard metal made contact with it.

Alphonse noticed this as well and called out, "Brother, stop! You'll kill him!"

The words didn't penetrate Edward's eardrums as he screamed nonsense at the bastard. It wasn't until Nina came and grabbed a hold of his coat that he stopped.

I looked at Nudge. She was crying, shaking like a leaf. "I told you not to come down…" I scolded gently, pulling her up to her feet. I took one more look at Ed, gently petting Nina again. "Let's go upstairs..." I said softly and started ushering her up the steps.

-0-0-0-

Nudge and I left soon after Ed had told us he had called the police. Nudge was a wreck, sobbing the entire way back to the Hughes' apartment. "Max, why does this always happen? Why is everything good taken away from us?!" she cried.

It broke my heart to see her like this. I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tight. "I don't know, Nudge," I said, "Maybe we're cursed…"

"She was such a sweet little girl! How could he do that to his own daughter?" she cried.

I squeezed her tighter, having no idea what to say. Nina must have been in so much pain. Seeing what became of her made me think of how that could have happened to any one of the flock. Those bastards were toying with the lives of other people. How dare they. In that moment, I wished only to be able to be the one who beat the shit out of Shou instead of Ed, but looking back to it now, it wouldn't have been a good idea.

"I won't let it happen again…" I said firmly. "I can't let it happen again." Nudge looked at me, sniffling. "Never again."


	18. Ch 17: the South

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Iggy yelled.

"I'm just going to go help Ed out for a bit," I replied to the sightless bird. I was actually on my way out the door when he confronted me.

"Why now? When we need you now more than anything!?"

I sighed, "I know…but I need to find things out. Not just for me, but for all of us. We'll find a way back home and maybe…maybe a way to restore our bodies…"

Iggy's brow furrowed. He leaned closer and hugged me, "Stay safe…I don't trust Dylan enough to take care of them and I'm incapable of doing it on my own. Stay alive."

Gently, I hugged back, promising I'd make it back safely and I'd call whenever I got the chance. Luggage in hand, I walked down the street for a short amount of time before making a quick survey of the area and ducking into an alleyway. I had made some adjustments to my jacket to make flying easier. I unzipped the back of the jacket and let my wings out. Fluttering them lightly as I spread them, I took to the skies.

Ed had said he'd meet me at the train station. I left too late for walking, so I had decided flying would be much faster. And as I predicted, I got there barely before Edward did. I dove into another alley and hid my wings once again. This jacket was working very nicely to hide my freakishness.

Ed walked up to me with Alphonse. He was in his usual attire and he had a suitcase in hand. "You're here early…" he said more to himself than to me. I gave him a half-assed smile and turned toward the two of them.

"So what are we doing here?" I asked.

"We're going South," Edward replied, "Mustang said there was something there we both might be interested in. Apparently there's some old urban legend that's resurfaced about some creature that may be a human Chimera." I simply nodded in understanding. Ed started walking on ahead of me and continued talking. "Anyway, some weird creature has been sighted. It has yet to do anything hostile and seems more timid than dangerous according to the witnesses."

We climbed onto a train and found our seats. Ed leaned back in his seat and looked at me. We stared at each other awkwardly for a little too long. I felt strange. A soft blush came to his cheeks and he stared out the window. Suddenly, I felt my cheeks heat up. Did that stare mean something to him? It felt like just an accidental eye-lock to me. I too, decided to stare outside to avoid a gaze from Alphonse who sat beside him.

I guess I had fallen asleep at some point because I was soon awoken by Alphonse gently shaking my shoulder. I felt drool caking my right cheek and licked my thumb to wipe it off. "Are we there?" I asked tiredly.

The suite of armor nodded, "Ed's already off the train." I got up, cracked my back, and followed Al out.

The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the train was that it was a lot warmer than Central was. I shifted uncomfortably in my jacket, as it suddenly felt very heavy. And hot. Maybe black wasn't the best decision for a color.

Edward had already removed his large red coat, the black jacket underneath still on. "Here I thought that the eastern province was warm…" he griped.

"It's probably just because of the desert." Al stated

Ed sighed, "Yeah… probably." I made note of him reaching up his hand under the black jacket to rub his automail port. I noticed my leg started feeling irritated around where the flesh connected with metal as well. I feel like I either didn't have as big of an issue because of my mutant ways or I'm just more resilient than Edward. Maybe it's a bit of both. The shorter alchemist let out a sigh, "Let's go ask around about this monster or whatever."

And I kind of just trailed behind the brothers. Ed did most of the talking and I really just felt awkward and not really needed. Sure, I was probably going to become more important whenever we actually found the thing – if it even existed –or I'd at least learn something. _Sigh_. I should have just stayed with the rest of the flock. Ed's good at taking notes… I assume.

Eventually we stopped and made our way to an inn. We had learned nothing of this weird thing we were looking for and I felt eve more useless being there. So I spoke up. "So…why did you want me to come, Ed?"

"You'll come in handy when things get serious," he replied simply, "You're stubborn as a mule and don't seem the type to be too bad in a fight."

"Stubborn as a mule?" I don't know why, because I usually would never care, but I felt somewhat offended by that. "You're a little ox-headed too, Pipsqueak."

A tick mark appeared on Edward's forehead. "Don't call me that!"

I let out a good laugh as Ed fumed. "I'm going to change in the bathroom," I announced, throwing my bag onto the bed and getting out some looser fitting clothes. I walked into the bathroom and dropped the black coat against a towel rack, knocking some off in the process. I gently spread my wings and fluttered them to give them some air.

I pulled off my jeans first then slowly went through the hassle of getting my shirt off. Wings are great and all, but if you don't want to wear rotten clothes ever, you'll have to get into some weird positions.

I pulled on a tank top with a low back so I could let the feathered appendages hang out for a bit. After that, I pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms Gracia hand lent me. They were a dull, pink color, closer to orange…peach..? So, black tanktop and peachy pajama pants, I stuck my head under the water and let warm water go through my hair. I've never been one to really care what I looked like, let alone my hair, but having hair that's a little less matty than usual and a little more manageable and light is nice. I finished washing my hair and grabbed one of the white towels that had been hung up nicely on a rack and wallered my hair up in it. As I finished off the messy drying, I stepped out. "Bathroom's open."

Ed stared at me, mostly my wings, as I came and sat down on the bed opposite of him. He stared for a while before awkwardly opening his mouth and stuttering out a question. "Can I look at them..?"

I couldn't see why not. If he was going to experiment on me he could have done that from the get go. I shrugged and nodded my head. "I don't see why not. Come on over."

He made his way over to the bed and sat behind me. I felt his hands gently grab the appendage and pull it gently so it spread out. I aided that a bit and turned my head to see what he was doing. He was absolutely mesmerized. His eyes reminded me of a kid in a candy shop. His automail, completely out of my line of sight, came and touched where wing met human body and startled me. I jerked away from the cold metal and turned, hitting Ed with the wing in the process and knocking him over.

"Shit!"

"Hey!"

"Brother!"

Somehow, we both ended up on the floor.

"What hell, Max?!" the older Elric yelled.

"You scared me!" I shouted back.

"You said I could look at your wings!"

"Your hand is cold!"

Over to the side, I could hear Alphonse sighing.

"You wanna say something, tin can!" I yelled at the suit of armor.

Al jumped a bit and if he could, he'd probably have been making a face of fear. "N-no!"

Suddenly, Edward started laughing. I gave him a dirty look. "What's so funny?"

He shook his head and sat up. "You're such a child."

"I'm the same age as you..."

Things calmed down pretty quickly after that and we all got comfortable. Al sat against a wall, staring out the window, Ed had the bed closes to Alphonse, and I was in the other.

I lay on my back with my wings spread across the bed. Memories of times the flock spent in several hotels and motels came back to me and I couldn't help but smile, at the same time, I felt dreaded tears prick at my eyes. God I missed Fang. I started thinking about the living members of the Flock. I hoped Dylan was okay wherever he had gone off to. We hadn't been the closes of friends ever since Fang had died and I somehow regretted that. I thought of Iggy and how much of a mother he's become since we arrived there. I thought about how all of this must be terribly difficult for Nudge. Her heart is big enough for all of us. I thought about Angel and Gazzy. I doubt anything would ever be the same for them. If Ed managed to find a way to get Al's body back I think I'd have to steal the idea and use it to save the Gasman. My hand went to my fake knee and I touched the metal port. None of our lives could ever be the same.


	19. Ch 18: the Sin of Pride

The next day we set off to ask around about the chimera. As we heard more and more, it started sounding like we were dealing with something other than a Chimera… "Black shadows with huge mouths and piercing eyes came out of nowhere! It all came from this figure that looked like a young man! When I approached it, it ran vanished!" An excited working man told us.

We continued walking along as Ed rubbed his beardless chin. "Shadows…" he mumbled to no one in particular, "What are we dealing with here..?"

I decided to butt in. "Everyone saying it's appearing at night. Maybe we could stake out a few of the alley ways it seems to like and see if we get anything. Ed gave a short nod in response.

We continued asking around for another hour then sat down at a café to put some food into our bodies. The staff was made up of mostly teenagers, the first location of its kind that I'd seen here. Unbeknownst to me, Ed had written everything down and was looking over his notes as we waited to be waited on…. That sounds weird—anyway! Ed and Al spoke in short mumbles and I stared at the menu, feeling useless again.

A young man approached the table, looking about fifteen. He looked to be around Nudge's height and he was thin as or thinner than Iggy. He had neatly trimmed black hair and dark eyes that rivaled Fang's in reading difficulty.

"Can I get you anything?" he timidly asked. He readied a pen and a note pad in waiting for my response.

I looked at the menu once more. "Let's see… I'll have…" I listed of two of the largest meal, two desserts, and a large cup of some German-sounding beverage. The boy scribbled everything down and looked at Edward and Alphonse.

"And the two of you?"

Ed waved his hand a bit. "I'll have one of everything she's having…except change that desert to the powered donut plate." The boy wrote that down and looked to Al for his order.

The suit of armor waved his hands in protest, "I'm not eating anything here today." The boy nodded and clicked the pen shut before walking to the kitchen.

Soon as he was out of are shot, I had to say something to Ed. That boy's aura bugged me to no end. He was too nervous for it to be normal. I leaned closer to him and lowered my voice as I spoke, "There's something up with that kid, Edward…"

Ed nodded and looked up from the notes, "He sounded a bit nervous…"

"I want to trail him."

Ed shrugged nonchalantly. "Do it," he said, "You can probably act as the bird's-eye-view for us." I nodded at that as the kid returned to the table with our food. I started eating and stared at the boy as he walked away.

-0-0-0-

I sat on the roof of the café near closing time. A few of the kids working there were out front, giggling and talking with each other. The boy we were trailing came out moments later and rushed past the kids in a way that I almost missed him.

I took off, keeping high enough to look like just some large bird. The boy didn't go very far. He ducked into an alleyway – I didn't expect the strange shadows bystanders described coming out of him.

I touched down directly behind him. "What are you doing?"

The boy startled and spun around toward me. A shadow shot out toward me. I dodged but the shadow stabbed into my shoulder. Bright red blood dripped from it and I could feel my shirt becoming damp. With that, I gave the little bastard a swift kick in the jaw.

He fell backwards, grabbing his wounded jaw. "What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted.

I fumed. "You made me bleed!" I pointed a very dramatic finger at him before going in for another hit.

The boy quickly got to his feet and out of the way of my fist and stumbled back. He shot another shadow out at me and I dodged once more, not getting hit this time.

I went in for another kick, and he dodged my foot, stumbling backwards. By the time I had straightened up, he had run off. Just then, Edward and Alphonse arrived.

"You okay, Max?" that was Al, I think.

I was starting to feel a little dizzy. It was dark, but I realized I was bleeding a lot more than I thought when my adrenaline started to fade. "I'm fine..." I half mumbled. Slowly, the world started spinning around me and I was out before I hit the ground.

-0-0-0-

When I woke up, it was still dark out but I was now inside our dimly lit room at the inn. My jacket was lying on top of me and I could feel bandages wrapped tightly around me. I blinked a bit, staring at the ceiling then jolted up when something moved in my peripheral vision – bad idea. A jolt of pain shot through me and I fell back against the pillow. I glanced over at the area where I saw the movement and saw that it was, in fact, a sleeping Ed. He was wearing everything but a shirt. I've got to say damn…he really had a nice body.

Soon, I realized that the coat on top of me, was in fact, not mine, but Ed's… and I was wearing his tank top rather than the one I had been wearing before. I was startled once more by Al's voice coming out from the wall beyond Ed's bed. "You're awake..!"

I looked at the suit of armor and nodded. I sat up again, but a little slower than previously so I wouldn't hurt myself. "Did Ed..?" I asked.

"He just cleaned and bandaged the wound. We didn't think you'd quite enjoy being taken to the hospital," he replied.

I touch the bandaging again and looked at Ed. "I didn't think he could do that..."

The suit of armor shrugged, "He gets dinged up a lot, so he knows a little bit of first aid."

I offered him a gentle smile, gently settling myself against the headboard. "Thanks, Ed," I said gently so neither him nor Alphonse could hear.

**Yes, this is Pride. Yes, he is based off of Brotherhood Pride, but he's different in several ways: age and creation, for example. Personality is going to be very different. He'll stray pretty far from either of the Pride's. Yes, this means Bradley isn't a Homunculus in this.**


	20. Ch 19: Framed

**I know this is a really short chapter. This is the result of severe writer's block. I know where I want to end up, but I don't know how to get there. Thanks so much for your patience guys! Hopefully I can figure something out a little bit faster for the next chapter.**

* * *

><p>It wasn't that he trusted Max. She was perfectly capable of defending herself. Whoops, yes it was, he definitely didn't trust her not to get seriously injured on their behalf or something stupid like that. He didn't trust himself to be capable of picking up any more of her pieces. His arms were just so strong; he couldn't carry all them.<p>

"Are you okay, Iggy?" Gracia's voice interrupted Iggy's thoughts. The blind bird-kid turned his head toward her and nodded.

"I'm just worried about Max," he replied.

Gracia smiled gently and continued cooking, "Those boys will take good care of her, sweetie, don't worry."

Though the words didn't really do much, the warm tone that gave them gave Iggy some comfort. "I swear, if she comes back missing another limb, I'll probably die from stress. Is this what being a parent feels like?"

Gracia chuckled gently. "I suppose it is."

-0-0-0-

"Okay, so what have we figured out?" I asked once we all awoke the day after the little showdown. Ed and I completely forgot that he probably saw my tits and went straight to business.

"That kid is the weird thing people have been talking about and he's dangerous," Ed said.

"And what are we going to do about him?" I went on.

Ed paused for a moment and rubbed his chin. "I think," he started, "We should confront him during the day…so he won't attack us."

"Maybe he can't attack us and he's some weird wolf-man thing."

Ed gave me a look like I was stupid, "I think we've confirmed that he's not a chimera, Maximum."

"That's not what I—" I stopped myself as I realized our worlds didn't have the same literature. "Never mind. Go on?"

Ed didn't drop the look, but continued talking. "We're going to confront him during the day. I'll take care of that since you're the one who attacked him."

"Hey, he went for me first!"

"Yeah, whatever. I'll confront him and ask questions."

I leaned forward on the table we were using. Ugh. This boy didn't understand how useless he was making me feel. "What exactly should I do then?"

"Sit from a distance and watch," Ed replied. "He'll feel safer if the crazy chick that attacked him isn't there."

"He attacked me first!"

"Yeah, whatever, Max." I felt a tick mark form on my forehead.

"Look here, shorty!"

Ed snarled. "Max, don't call me that! You're not going near him and that's final!"

I groaned. "Whatever, _dad_."

-0-0-0-

A knock came from Hughes family's front door. Gracia went to answer it and a young man dressed in military uniform stood there. "Mrs. Hughes, we've heard that the girl who witnessed your husband's murder has been staying here with you."

Gracia hesitated to respond. "Do you need her for something?"

"Some higher ups wanted her to come in for some questions."

Iggy appeared behind Gracia. "No," he blurted at the boy. He marched up closer, only held back by the mother. He continued speaking in a raised voice that wasn't quite yelling, "We don't go anywhere without each other without good reason and I don't think it's a good reason since you already caught your suspect!"

The young officer stuttered to find his reply. "Sir, she's gone missing!"

"Missing..?"

"Actually, sir, it was Colonel Mustang who requested her."

Iggy paused and gently pushed Gracia behind himself. He glared in the young man's general direction. "Fine. But I'm coming too."

"Iggy—" Gracia tried to intervene but Iggy lifted his hand.

"Max left me in charge of the flock. I'll make sure she's safe.."

-0-0-0-

"She didn't do it?" Nudge asked curiously.

"No," Roy replied. "I assumed you would know since you saw it." He spoke in a harsh, impatient tone.

Nudge looked at the floor, very defeated emotionally. "I only saw the aftermath..." she mumbled as she leaned forward and covered her face. "He was shot and there was a pool of blood…"

Iggy stepped into the conversation at this point. "I think you've brought enough bad memories up. Is this all you wanted us for?"

Mustang's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "I don't recall inviting you to come here."

"Well I did!" he shot, "Why did you bring her here?!"

After a short pause, Roy spoke again. "We're going to hide Maria in the desert. There are a few refugee camps that have been left untouched by the military. I was going to bring her along."

"She's not going anywhere without me right beside her."

"Iggy, it's fine," Nudge tried but failed to stop him.

Roy had actually interrupted her. "We're leaving in two days."

Nudge let out an exasperated sigh and leaned forward. Iggy rested a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it. "Let's go back and eat the breakfast we missed…"


End file.
